The Babel Tower erupted into an uproar unlike anything in the recorded history of divine gatherings. Gods and goddesses leapt from their lavish seats, faces flushed with excitement that had nowhere left to go.
"No trigger chant?!"
"That much destructive force with no chant?! How is that possible?! That breaks the basic laws of magic!"
"I want that man in my Familia so badly! I'll give him anything he asks for!"
Nearly the entire room was consumed by awe at Bell's Firebolt, which had just bored through the castle tower like a colossal drill. The residual white light on the Divine Mirror's surface still flickered in their eyes.
In the middle of the chaos, Apollo stood completely still. His mouth hung open, his face drained of all color as though his circulation had stopped entirely. His victory crown sat crooked on his head, a fitting symbol of the pride that had just cracked. He could not process what his eyes had seen.
On the other side, Hestia had not moved either, but her eyes blazed with fierce pride, locked onto the small figure of Bell emerging from the rubble on the Divine Mirror's surface. Her tiny hands were clenched tight against her chest, holding back a wave of emotion that was very nearly bringing her to tears.
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Through his Senrigan, Charlie watched the gods' hysterical reactions with a slight frown. He dropped the last piece of popcorn into his mouth, chewed slowly, and murmured to himself in genuine puzzlement.
"Why are they making such a fuss? That destructive output was, what, building-level at best?" He shook his head, mildly disappointed by this world's benchmarks. "I could do the same with pure physical strength and no Spirit Arts at all. If I actually used Spirit Arts, classifying it at nuclear scale wouldn't even be an exaggeration."
Aishia, seated beside him, turned and offered him a calm look in response to his confusion.
"You have to remember the context of this world, Charlie." In her characteristically flat tone. "The gods do possess global-scale destructive power if they unseal their Arcanum. The recent case with Artemis proved that clearly enough, where the Divine Arrow that Antares misused nearly destroyed the entire surface of the world. But for them, witnessing that kind of power from an adventurer is something else entirely."
She paused briefly before continuing, her eyes staying on the screen. "Of course, there are adventurers with greater destructive output than Bell right now. But that sort of power almost always belongs to Mages, and their chants are long, leaving them dangerously exposed on the battlefield. Bell did it instantly. That's what changes the equation."
Charlie went quiet for a moment, then began to grasp the point Aishia was making.
"You're right. An adventurer who can put out building-level destruction is already rare, and one who can do it instantly with no chant is even rarer than running into a perverted Elf."
"Mm."
Aishia gave a brief nod, agreeing with the strange analogy.
Est, who had been leaning against Charlie's side and listening quietly all along, added her own comment in her small, unhurried voice. Her little feet dangled from the sofa, not quite reaching the floor.
"The people in this world are far weaker than those from my home world, Onii-chan. Any Shrine Maiden who has contracted with a spirit would have at least as much power as the rabbit-eared man on the screen."
"Haaah..."
Charlie could only let out a short sigh. What the whole of Orario and the gods in Babel Tower were treating as a miracle was, by his reckoning, simply the baseline for any Shrine Maiden in the Planar World of Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance. The gap in scale was simply too wide.
He reached over and gently stroked Est's head before explaining the fundamental difference between her world and the one they were currently watching.
"Listen, Est. In this world, spirits are considered sacred beings. Someone who can form a contract with a spirit is immediately regarded as a hero by everyone, from ordinary humans all the way to the elves. Their legend gets written into the history books. So if the Shrine Maidens from your world were placed here, every single one of them would automatically be worshipped as a hero."
"..."
Est was quiet for a moment, her large, clear eyes fixed on Charlie without blinking as she turned the information over.
"Then... does that mean Onii-chan is also a hero?"
The question drew a quiet scoff from Charlie, a small laugh filled with irony. He rested his head back against the sofa and looked up at the Divine Mirror, where Bell was fighting hard against what remained of his enemies.
"Me? No, Est. I don't feel like my virtue is worthy of carrying a title that heavy." He answered, his tone reluctant, deflecting the compliment. "A hero should be someone with a genuine heart and a pure kind of sacrifice. I'm just a man trying to survive in my own way."
Aishia, who had been listening throughout, finally spoke up in her characteristic flat tone, cutting straight to the point.
"You can deny it a thousand times, Charlie. But technically, because you've contracted with me and Est, in the eyes of anyone who knows about it, you are a hero, whether you like it or not. You were marked as one from the very beginning."
Charlie could only breathe out a long sigh, feeling the argument slip away from him. He raised his hands in surrender.
"Well, I suppose that's the curse of anyone who carries extraordinary power into a place starving for miracles. No matter how many times I argue against it, people will always see what they want to see."
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The casual conversation between Charlie and his two spirit girls came to a halt as the War Game reached its breathless climax.
On the Divine Mirror, the throne room had been reduced to dust and rubble. Bell had just shattered Hyakinthos's prized sword and was preparing to end everything. Then Cassandra's sudden intervention gave Hyakinthos the opening he needed to chant his ultimate spell, Aro Zephyros.
The blazing ring of western wind and fire, burning like a miniature sun, shot forward and pursued Bell with the relentless precision of a heat-seeking weapon.
Fortunately, Lili appeared just in time to bring Cassandra down, giving Bell the space he needed to evade. The blast from Aro Zephyros still caught him, scorching his uniform and leaving wounds across his body, but Bell refused to fall. His legs trembled and held.
"You're still standing after taking a hit like that?!"
"I don't care anymore what Apollo-sama wants!"
"Then die!"
Blind with a rage that had long since outrun his better judgment, Hyakinthos drew his short sword and threw himself at Bell with nothing but the pure intent to kill, all strategy abandoned.
Meanwhile, Bell stood battered but upright, reading his opponent's movements through the remnants of Ryuu's training that lived somewhere in his muscle memory. His breathing was labored, but his eyes were sharp.
Out in the distance, Kei, who had been watching and waiting for exactly this moment, locked onto her target. Her index finger rested cold against the trigger.
*BANG!*
The barrel of the PGM Hécate II exhaled a flash of cold light. The Myriad Curse compression round tore through the air, covering hundreds of meters in an instant and striking Hyakinthos square in the chest at the precise moment his guard was fully open.
"GAKH!"
Under normal circumstances, a Level 3 adventurer would have sensed the danger from a distance. But Hyakinthos, wholly consumed by fury and completely fixated on Bell, never reacted. The curse landed clean, simulating throughout every nerve in his body the overwhelming sensation of childbirth.
Hyakinthos dropped his sword immediately. His eyes went wide, nearly bulging from their sockets, and cold sweat drenched him all at once. He fell to his knees, both hands clutching his own abdomen while his body shook violently. The sound that tore from his throat was no longer a war cry but an inarticulate moan of indescribable agony, as though his pelvis were being forced apart from within.
"Hyaaa!"
Seizing the moment when Hyakinthos had lost every last scrap of his defense, Bell surged forward. He poured everything he had left into a single fist, driving it forward with the last of the white energy still clinging to his knuckles.
*THWACK!*
The blow landed squarely on Hyakinthos's jaw, sending Apollo Familia's captain crashing back into the rubble, where he lay completely still.
"The fight is over!"
The commentator's voice rang out across all of Orario through the Divine Mirror, splitting the tension that had been wound unbearably tight.
"Against all expectations, the winner of this War Game is Hestia Familia!"
Ibri the announcer made the official declaration, and the name of Hestia hung in the air over the city.
"OOOHHHHH!!!"
Out in the streets, an enormous roar burst from the supporters who had never truly believed this small alliance could bring down one of Orario's most powerful Familias. Justice had been served, and the name of Hestia Familia was now etched permanently into the minds of countless people.
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"HA HA HA!!!!"
Three gods who had bet on Hestia Familia from the beginning, seated in a corner bar, were dancing on their chairs and raising their glasses as high as their arms could reach, celebrating an impossible victory that had transformed their financial situation overnight.
"YOU ABSOLUTE BASTARDS!" x N
In stark contrast, a wave of cursing exploded from the adventurers who had been backing Apollo Familia. They snarled with full force, crumpling their now-worthless betting tickets and hurling them to the floor in furious disappointment.
"Oh, oh? You too, miss? Did you win as well?"
Mord, an adventurer who had also come out on the winning side, turned with a surprised look. Besides himself, Solo Leveling, and the three gods, it turned out there was a young woman in the corner of the bar who looked absolutely overjoyed.
Mord walked over with a wide grin. The woman, Nahza of Miach Familia, met his gaze with a deeply satisfied smile. Her tail swayed slowly back and forth in quiet triumph, while her fingers formed a proud 'V'. For her, this victory was a fresh glimmer of hope for her Familia's long-struggling finances.
"NOOOOOO!"
An equally powerful cry of despair broke out in another corner of the city, specifically at the Hostess of Fertility. Yet in the middle of the sea of customers mourning their losses, Anya, Chloe, and Lunoire were bouncing up and down with delight. They exchanged repeated high fives, laughing openly until their colleagues around them were swept up in the joy as well.
"...Bell."
In one corner of the room, tears of happiness were beginning to pool in Syr's silver eyes. Her lips trembled as the result of the match settled over her. Her cheeks were flushed, betraying just how much relief she had been holding inside all this time. She knew how hard Bell had trained for this moment.
Syr finally turned her face away from the Divine Mirror hanging on the wall, trying to return to the work of serving customers. She did not want anyone to see her like this.
"Damn it all, I lost everything in an instant!"
"Hey, Syr! Bring a lot of beer over here! I need to forget all of this!"
Syr quickly brushed the corner of her eye dry and put on her best smile. She watched the customers begin to drown their disappointment in drink.
"Coming right up!"
She answered in a bright, cheerful voice and moved with light steps, weaving nimbly between the tables and taking orders with all the energy in the world, hiding every great secret she carried behind the face of a warm and friendly barmaid.
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