Ottar stood on the fiftieth stair, his expression stony and composed. He could not step forward, because there were no stairs left ahead of him.
Allen stood beside him, stomping on the step without holding back. An impact from his stomp sent tremors through nearly twenty stairs behind them.
"You boar! Why are we standing here like idiots!? What if that Cranel does sothing to our goddess while we wait!?"
Ottar glanced ahead. Bell's continuous flaming bombardnt had reduced nearly fifty stairs to rubble.
Allen glanced at Ottar's bruised neck and clicked his tongue.
"Tch. You're as unreliable as always."
He dropped into a stance and pulled his arm back, cat ears standing on end. With a heave, he hurled his spear straight toward the twin gates leading into Babel above.
The weapon tore through air, leaving a gleaming trail, yet it fell short of those gates. A wall of flas stood precisely where the stairs ended and platform began.
Allen's spear was swallowed by that wall. His legs tensed, and he tilted his body aside by an inch. A trailing spear of fire scread past where his head had been a mont prior. It buried itself ten stairs back, flas dying away to reveal his own weapon within.
Further down the staircase, Finn and Riveria sat on another step.
"Finn, Loki shouldn't be in any danger, right?" she asked, turning her head to look back up at the blaze Bell had left behind. Chantless magic, and with such a long range that he can still control it from inside Babel...
"No, they are acquainted. He wouldn't do anything to her, and besides, Bete is already up there if sothing does happen."
Riveria paused for a mont at his words.
"Then why did we try to stop him? Shouldn't we have just let him go up?"
With a light shrug, Finn answered.
"We had to at least try to stop him. Now, no one can question us—we tried, and we failed."
He turned to glance at her.
"What surprised , though, was that you stopped suddenly mid-chant. I've rarely seen you lose your composure."
Riveria cleared her throat.
"I was simply surprised by him. We were held up by a monstrous won during the war, and afterwards heard that a new adventurer repelled the Rakian army alone, what do you think?"
"Undoubtedly true. Even though none of us fought with any intent to kill, he still managed to climb past all of us. The Rakian army wouldn't have stood a chance against soone like that." Finn touched his forehead, where pain still flared from Bell's headbutt.
Riveria tightened her grip on Magna Alf.
"And his stance at the end... Do you think it's true? About the Silence, and her being alive?"
Finn rubbed his thumb against his fingers, eyes thoughtful.
"Loki said that she was... but it's hard to believe without seeing it with our own eyes."
Riveria humd thoughtfully.
"Let's visit his ho soti to see for ourselves."
"Sure." He replied.
...
Bell reached the twin gates from inside and pushed them open. Hestia walked to his right, Astraea to his left.
They stepped onto the platform leading down.
Hestia and Astraea slowed as a blazing wall lood ahead on their path.
Bell overtook them and stepped into the inferno. Searing heat licked his shoulders, face, and hair. They did not burn him—rather, they couldn't—and he walked deeper, the ash on his body flaking away with every step.
Finn snapped his gaze up, and Riveria followed to look above.
Ottar's shoulders tensed slightly. Allen snarled, his eyes locked on that wall of heat.
Ripples spread across the fiery wall. Air itself groaned, superheated and shimring, and then those flas drew back like an inhaled breath. A chest erged first, then shoulders, arms, and legs followed, wisps of crimson clinging to his skin before fading, reluctant to let go. Last to appear were white hair and ruby eyes.
No stairs existed ahead of Bell to descend.
His steps did not pause. He put his foot on empty air. The Inferno around him collapsed, winding beneath his heels and compressing into solid form—a stair of fire to land on.
More flas expanded from beneath, condensing into molten steps leading downward, each one holding its shape even after he had stepped down them.
Hestia and Astraea walked behind, stepping onto those stairs.
"Waah... I'm not being burned. Bell, these are warm!" Hestia marveled, pressing her heels deeper into the embers beneath her. They held her weight, radiating gentle heat like a hearth in winter.
She glanced sideways at Astraea, who was watching it with a quiet smile.
"Astraea, try it—it feels nice!"
"I can feel that, Hestia." Astraea felt those flas support her footing mid-air without burning. It made her feel as though Bell himself was carrying her down.
In monts, Bell reached Ottar and Allen.
Ottar's eyes kept following him, while Allen bared his teeth at him.
Bell didn't care. He walked between them without acknowledging either.
Hestia followed him quickly, while Astraea walked at her own asured pace, her gaze taking in Ottar and Allen as she passed.
Allen watched them go, his snarl twisting further in rage.
"You're just letting him walk away!?"
Ottar did not answer. He simply stood, watching Bell's white hair grow smaller with each step.
Further down, Finn and Riveria rose to their feet as Bell approached.
Bell's stride didn't falter, but he nodded in Finn's direction.
Riveria observed Bell from Finn's side, noting the way his body shifted ever so slightly—weight on his feet, ready to move in any direction without delay.
He hasn't dropped his guard for a single mont since he appeared, not even now. She realized.
Finn seed to reach a similar conclusion. He exhaled softly and stepped aside.
Bell continued on his way.
Finn watched him go, hand resting on his chin.
"Well?" Riveria asked.
"He's not an enemy," Finn said quietly. "But he's not on our side, either. He's on his own, and that makes him more dangerous than either."
...
..
.
Ho.
Bell walked inside. Astraea walked in beside him, Hestia ca in last, closing the door behind them.
With a spin, Hestia bounced on her feet.
"Heehee~ Now I can proudly say in front of everyone that Bell is my child." She held her cheeks, eyes turned to crescents.
"By the way, Bell, about your Falna update, should we do it n—" She was interrupted by Astraea's hand landing on her shoulder.
Hestia focused her eyes and saw that Bell was already halfway up the staircase, his back growing smaller as he climbed.
"Let him have so ti to himself. We'll talk about this tomorrow." Astraea spoke, patting Hestia's shoulder reassuringly.
"Oh..."
...
A click resounded as Bell walked inside his room and stopped.
Alfia was inside, sitting on a chair beside his bed.
She turned toward him and took him in, then tilted her head slightly.
"You had a fight." Not a question.
Bell nodded.
"Broke their bones?"
He nodded again.
"Good."
Alfia rose from her chair and settled on the edge of his bed, patting her thighs.
"Co."
It was a command.
"You sure?" Bell asked.
She did not reply. Her hand patted her thigh once more.
With a tired sigh, he walked over and laid his head in her lap.
"Sleep."
Alfia's voice remained stoic. Yet her hand ca up, fingers combing slowly through his long white hair—not much different from her own.
Bell's eyes stayed open for a mont, staring at nothing. Inside his mind, nas still smoldered. Hers. Dionysus. Evilus. The Dragon. A ledger that would never run out of pages, a fire that would never burn itself to nothing.
His jaw unclenched.
Tension slowly bled out of his shoulders. His breathing deepened. His fingers, which had been curled faintly against the bedsheets, went slack.
Alfia felt the exact mont it happened.
Her fingers did not stop. Stroke after stroke, gentle and rhythmic, soothing his hair the sa way she had done once before, in the past, in a room much smaller than this one.
Just for a little while.
His eyes drifted shut.
Just for a little while... I can rest.
His breathing evened out, slow and steady.
Alfia looked down at him.
Her expression didn't change. But her hand paused for just a mont, resting on his head, trembling faintly before it resud its rhythm.
"Sleep."
You've earned it.
...
..
.
***
[300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[8 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Authors Thoughts]
Rest...
You all should rest too, everyone needs a bit of rest to refresh their minds and to perform better in whatever they do.
Anyway... Have a fabulous day, everyone!
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