https://x.com/fujinoomori/status/1868495471771369562?s=46&t=wAvJMWcvBZr2NN2VFq2L1g

Without any exaggeration vol 20 is the best volume in the series, I've only read the main events so will only recount what was interesting to me.

1. Leon is described as the one who is closest to the title of the last hero.”
2. Leon's magic is enough to break through Ottar's absolute defense head-on.
3. Leon's magic is very short, but he says it's extreme ineffective due to having to break a lot of guns.
4. Ottar is written as someone who has absolute defense, and Leon is someone who has absolute attack.
5. Leon gave Bell a real baptism where he tried to teach him a technique that only Leon and Ottar possess.
6. Allen, Hedin and the Gulliver brothers comment on the fight between Bell and Leon.
7. Hogni and Ottar do not appear as observers at Leon and Bell's battle, this will probably be revealed in SO 15.
8. At the end, an injured guy with black hair (Raul?) Returns with members of Loki's family, who were also injured and even lost limbs, begging to save their friends who are stuck on the 60th floor. The narrator declares that the Loki Family has been destroyed.

Really? Omori gave them a massive lvl up to turn some of the family into invalids and kill some of them?

Given that Ais, one of her children she shows favouritism towards, wants to take revenge against the OEBD, isn’t it strange that she seemed to be taking it lightly? Even if she was venting her frustrations at the guild.

Also, regarding the screenshot, the highlighted text is a little inaccurate, below should be more accurate, but someone correct me if I am wrong.

Her divine will was unshakable. Or rather, her divine will of wanting to pay back Freya was being forcibly twisted by “some reason”. And she had no intention of elaborating.

So, referring to the statement that Ais is most tied down by oaths now, it would mean that Loki is burdened by both Ais and Riveria, with them having oaths they need to fulfil. We know that Riveria’s likely concerns the Ice Garden in the deeper floors. Then what about Ais’s? Is it simply about her deal with Freya?

Here’s a conjecture that’s built on a flimsy assumption, but what if Ais’s wish is at odds with what’s best for her or the world?

If this would be the case, then not all the gods are aligned. Hermes wants to side with his hero in clearing the quests even if it might be at the expense of the Xenos. Ouranos and Fels seem to wish for the coexistence of Humans and Xenos in addition to that. The commonality is that they entrust their wills to Bell.

Would Loki and her familia cause this balance to fall apart?

This is just me theorising, so feel free to point out if you don’t agree.

Lyu cranell? It's funny, that lyu thought she could get away with it lol

I thought I’d get ahead of the curve and give some information about Bell and Ais’s scene today since I anticipate that there are going to be questions. I highly encourage anime viewers to read the scene in its entirety at the bottom of this post as JC Staff did make some unnecessary changes IMO and it felt rushed.

This post is long, but the tldr is as follows on Ais remembering her interactions with Bell (please read the whole post before arguing):

• Ais was charmed just like everyone else despite her being special in that her mother is a spirit.
• Strong feelings towards Bell, a bond with Bell, and time are components shown that drive resistance to Freya’s charm.
• Ais has a bond with Bell and Ais has strong feelings towards each of the things she remembered with Bell.
• Ais was the last person with strong feelings and a bond with Bell that Bell asked if they remembered him, so she had the most time to form a resistance to the charm. (Tiona is an exception but see below for Omori’s hint as to why she didn’t remember).
• Ais’s socially awkward, quiet nature, combined with her relatively muted expressions, may have given her an advantage in her initial reaction to Bell while she struggled with her emotions.

Please note, any bold in quotes has been added. Also, I'm well aware that SO is needed to understand Ais's feelings in this case. We all know that is one her weaknesses currently.

First, let’s address if there is something special about Ais that allowed her to break through the charm. We do know that she has been blessed by spirit blood, and she is the daughter of the great spirit Aria. However, I don’t believe she resisted because of those qualities due to Omori stating she fell prey to the charm just like everyone else regardless of how special she may be:

Her beautiful golden eyes were etched with a glimmer of silver.

That silver gleam was proof that Aiz had fallen prey to the charm, too. Considering even deities had been enslaved by it, too, there was no logical reason to think a mortal might have escaped the yoke, no matter how special she might be.

Omori, Fujino. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 17 (light novel) (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (light novel)) (p. 113). Yen Press. Kindle Edition.

So how did Ais resist Freya’s charm and remember her interactions with Bell?

The anime alluded to how it was possible by showing how Eina and Welf started to remember Bell. The novel goes into more detail:

Eina turned the page.

She kept reading, crying all the while without understanding anything. And when she attempted desperately to reach out for the feeling deep in her heart that was still pleading with her, she heard a voice.

“Still seeking it out even though you cannot even recognize what it is you want…Truly intriguing, but that’s a miscalculation on my part.”

...

“It would be one thing to miss something like this if the target was one individual, but with an indefinite, wide-scale charm, gaps are bound to appear…particularly around those who had especially strong feelings toward him. It’s good I noticed.”

The goddess murmured to herself before suddenly looking up. “For a powerless girl like you to be able to resist me…I’m jealous. It’s almost as if you’ve formed a bond with Bell.”

Omori, Fujino. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 17 (light novel) (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (light novel)) (pp. 120-121). Yen Press. Kindle Edition.

And with Welf:

“I can’t seem to remember who I made this for…but I can tell that I must have taken a lot of care in making it.”

Welf was staring at the armor even though he could not possibly know what was happening.

For a second, Hestia almost burst into tears. After the moment passed, she gave him her biggest smile.

“You don’t have to remember, just feel it. The bond you had with the adventurer who used that armor!”

With that, Hestia fled the storage room.

No matter how much Freya twisted things with her charm, people’s bonds with Bell still remained. With enough searching, many more would surely come to light. And within that realization, there was hope. Renewing her thoughts, Hestia hurried forward.

Omori, Fujino. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 17 (light novel) (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (light novel)) (p. 253). Yen Press. Kindle Edition.

From these passages we learn that those with strong feelings for Bell and a bond with Bell, and with enough searching or in other words time, could resist Freya’s charm like Ais was able to. It was also shown that objects such as Eina’s journal or Welf’s armor that both contained a personal connection to Bell could also help, but that appears to be irrelevant in Ais's case as there was no object shown for her.

So does Ais have strong feelings, a bond, and did she have enough time to resist Freya’s charm? Naturally, the answer is yes since Omori wrote it, but I do think there is enough evidence to think that it is believable and at the very least plausible that Ais could do it without chalking it up to simply favoritism or plot. Let’s go through it bit by bit.

“Still seeking it out even though you cannot even recognize what it is you want"

Like Eina, Ais followed this behavior when she went to her and Bell's training spot, the place where she had promised to train Bell. This took place early on, sometime after Hestia familia had rejected Bell. Hestia was able to detect a strong undercurrent of emotion, but was disappointed that Ais still remembered Bell as Freya familia and couldn’t articulate why she was there:

“What are you doing here?”

“…I don’t know…”

“You don’t know?”

“Yes…I don’t know…why I came here…or what I was hoping to find…or who I was hoping to meet…”

Aiz seemed to be struggling with that question herself as she answered. Sensing the undercurrent of her emotions, Hestia was hopeful for a moment that she might possibly remember Bell, but she was soon disappointed.

…

“…Do you know Bell?”

“…? Do you mean Freya Familia’s Bell Cranell…?”

Hearing her refer to Bell that way was beyond disheartening.

Omori, Fujino. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 17 (light novel) (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (light novel)) (p. 113). Yen Press. Kindle Edition.

By having Ais go to the wall, Omori was showing us that Ais had particularly strong emotions or feelings regarding what had happened with Bell on the wall which brings us to what Ais remembered after she asked Bell to train when they met in today's episode:

“I…I knocked you out so many times…”

“Ehh?”

“And then let you rest on my lap…”

“Wai—”

“And when you woke up, I knocked you out again…”

Omori, Fujino. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 17 (light novel) (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (light novel)) (p. 271). Yen Press. Kindle Edition.

Allow me to do a bit of cleanup for JC Staff here since in someways they butchered Ais’s strong emotions and day 2 of their training regarding the whole lap pillow business. Ais was directed by Riveria to give Bell a lap pillow when they found him mind down. Riveria, hoping Ais would be a little less blind to the slight change in her when the two of them were together, wanted to distract Ais from her inner turmoil after losing to Revis with some physical contact with a boy. Ais ended up enjoying it as it soothed her heart and caused her to feel many emotions in a short amount of time:

“…”

There was something refreshing about the weight on her thin thighs.

Aiz silently looked down at the boy with his head in her lap, his eyes closed as though he were sleeping on a pillow.

…This is a little embarrassing.

She felt rather awkward after lifting his head and sliding beneath him.

Cheeks blushing, she very carefully adjusted her position to match him. She didn’t want to wake the white rabbit, so her every movement was slow and gentle.

“…”

The two humans in the middle of the room were discovered by one monster after another, but one flick of Aiz’s wrist was enough to dispatch them without disturbing the boy.

She continued to protect him, looking down at his peaceful face whenever she wasn’t taking care of any would-be attackers.

“…You’ve been working very hard.”

His armor had changed since the last time she saw him.

It might have been new, but it was already covered with scratches and dents. She could tell it had been used, a lot. There was no doubt in her mind he had been fighting monsters in the Dungeon every day.

It was heartwarming to see this much effort. He was a pure young man with an untainted spirit. Innocent, so very innocent.

Completely different from her.

The purity emanating from his spirit calmed her own. The last of the black flames still flickering in the bottom of her heart were washed clean until finally disappearing entirely.

A smile appeared on Aiz’s lips before she knew what was happening.

The pure white rabbit soothed her.

An urge to stroke his hair overcame her. Her fingers drifted down and caressed his cheeks from time to time.

“…Mom?”

The boy spoke after a few minutes.

A quiver ran through Aiz’s shoulders, caught off guard by the boy’s sleep talk.

…Is yours gone, too?

She thought to herself, but the words didn’t come out.

Her golden eyes looked away for a moment.

We are…a lot alike…

She felt a sudden connection with him that she knew she shouldn’t hold on to, as well as a twinge of loneliness.

Aiz brushed the white bangs out of the boy’s face and apologized.

“Sorry. I’m not your mother…”

A moment later, two groggy ruby-red eyes opened beneath her.

They became clearer every moment as the boy woke up. His gaze locked onto hers the moment he realized she was there.

The boy seemed lost, trapped in the moment their eyes met. Aiz started stroking his hair once again.

The tips of her fingers ran past his eyelashes before he slowly pulled himself into a sitting position.

She thought it a waste for him to leave the warmth of her lap, but gave up.

The boy stayed sitting on the floor, but turned to face her.

“…An illusion?”

“Not an illusion.”

The boy’s drowsy face suddenly froze, his right hand in midair. Eyebrows slanting outward, he wore a rather unusual expression.

It might even have been a little rude.

Aiz, who had felt many emotions in a short amount of time, felt her lips pout slightly as she stared back at the boy.

…H-huh?

Ruby-red and golden eyes stared at each other. The boy didn’t budge, but Aiz started to get flustered.

Had she done something wrong? Although her face didn’t show it, the young spirit dwelling within her was racking her brain, desperately running around and looking for an answer. The white rabbit only looked at her, frozen like a statue with his white hair sticking up like ears, waving back and forth.

—That’s right, I need to apologize.

Aiz started to open her mouth the moment the thought hit her.

Then she saw the boy getting redder and redder from the neck up by the second. By the time she fully noticed, his head was roughly the color of an overripe apple.

His beautiful red eyes were in bad shape, twitching almost like there were worms crawling under the surface.

Now she knew for sure something was wrong. She frantically prepared to ask him what—when the boy jumped to his feet.

Then…

“GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

He ran away from Aiz at full speed.

“…”

Bounding and leaping like a panicked critter, the boy disappeared from the room. Still sitting on her knees in the middle of the floor, Aiz couldn’t move at all.

“Geh-geh-geh.”

She thought she heard some monster laughing in the distance.

“…Why do you always…run away?” Aiz mumbled to herself, on the verge of tears.

Omori, Fujino. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 2 (light novel) (pp. 224-227). Yen Press. Kindle Edition.

It is no exaggeration to say that Ais was truly, utterly depressed after Bell ran away from him. She was so down that the only thing she could think of was Bell when she leveled up, and that is truly saying something for someone obsessed with getting stronger:

“…It ain’t every day that ya level up, so why the long face?”

Loki tilted her head as she pointed that out. Only then did Aiz notice. She had finally advanced to the next level, but it didn’t make her feel much of anything.

Even though it had been her greatest wish to become stronger. Even though she had waited eagerly all this time.

Now, her longing for it wavered. In this moment alone, Aiz had forgotten her obsession with strength.

Why? she thought curiously. But all she could see in the back of her mind was that boy running away from her in a terrified panic.

Her heart ached again.

“…There’s somethin’ more important to ya now, ain’t there, Aiz?”

Loki smiled fondly as she watched the girl’s dejected profile. Aiz looked up once at her smiling goddess and contemplated.

…I might not be able to deny it.

Ever since they had met, Aiz felt as though she had been thinking of that boy every free moment she had. Even now, just coming into contact with him had made her happy one moment and absolutely depressed the next.

What’s happening? She placed a hand over her beating heart. The question was born not from confusion but an innocent desire to understand.

Loki had been watching Aiz with a happy gleam in her eyes when suddenly her shoulders lurched. “It c-c-can’t be! You’re lovesick?! Aizuu, is it a man?!”

Omori, Fujino. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 3 (light novel) (p. 23). Yen Press. Kindle Edition.

That, however, wasn’t the end to Ais’s saga of the lap pillow. She would be sure to get the white rabbit in her lap again, noting how good they felt so much so she forgot why she was on the wall in the first place.

That’s right—the situation was almost exactly the same as when she had done as Riveria said and laid his head in her lap, only to have him dash off at top speed!

Whereupon she’d turned bright red and been heavily criticized by Riveria.

What was it that elegant high elf had told her? “Men usually adore this kind of thing! You’re probably just doing it wrong!” It might as well have happened yesterday, the way that memory was burned into the back of her mind.

Of course, Riveria had only been giving her a hard time, struggling to hold back a grin all the while. Aiz, on the other hand, had taken her words as gospel.

Gulp.

Body trembling slightly, she shifted toward Bell.

She couldn’t just end things here. Watch out, Riveria! Watch out, white rabbit! It was time for her unyielding, indomitable spirit to shine. Her revenge was nigh.

Failure was not an option. Not this time.

Ever so slowly, Aiz took a hold of Bell’s head and positioned it atop her thighs.

“Mmhn…” Bell murmured.

That same weight and pressure.

As she knelt with Bell’s head in her lap, embarrassment she was entirely unaccustomed to washed over her, and a touch of pink brightened her cheeks.

All the while, the eastern sky silently grew brighter and brighter.

Night turned to morning, and the horizon displayed the most beautiful fairy-tale-like colors, the light wrapping itself around Aiz’s shoulders as she gently stroked Bell’s forehead and cheeks.

There was something so innocent about that sleeping face, and it brought a small smile to her lips. It really did feel as though her heart had been given a good cleansing.

Was this the way her parents had felt when they’d put her to bed so many years ago?

She ran her fingers through his soft white hair, letting his heartbeat guide her into a relaxing sense of calm.

Forgetting why the two of them were up on the city walls in the first place, with Bell’s head on her lap, she let herself enjoy the moment to her heart’s content.

“Mmn…” Bell murmured again, right before his eyelids fluttered.

Aiz drew in a gasp, freezing momentarily before flinging her hands behind her back.

And then she waited, face revealing none of her inner turmoil.

She held her breath as Bell’s eyes slid open ever so slowly—

“W-waaaah!”

As soon as he realized the situation, Bell sprang from her lap with a scream.

Aiz’s shoulders drooped as she watched him scuttle away.

Am I really as bad at this as Riveria said…?

On the other hand, Bell paid Aiz no attention and didn’t stop running until he’d made it to a distant corner, face flushed with his back pressed up against a parapet.

“Wh-why a lap pillow?!”

But all Aiz could think about in response to Bell’s vigorously sputtered question was how awful she must have been.

She couldn’t tell him that she was bitter about losing to Riveria and had wanted to even the score.

Something deep inside her chest reverberated with a weak groan.

“I thought maybe…it would help you recover…more quickly…”

Unable to even glance in his general direction, she struggled to throw together an excuse.

Her response was met with a suitably suspicious look from Bell.

“…Sorry.” She uttered a meek apology, head drooping.

Aiz confessed the lie she’d just told him, still kneeling upon the stone.

“Actually…I just wanted to do it to you…”

After hearing her true intentions, Bell turned a brilliant shade of red.

“She doesn’t know what she’s saying…she doesn’t know what she’s saying…she doesn’t know what she’s saying…!”

Aiz was the kind of person who couldn’t help but misinterpret things, but what she said had completely shaken Bell and broken him. Again and again he repeated something to himself, both hands cradling his head.

Aiz cocked her head to the side as she watched Bell struggle with waves of emotional turmoil, warning himself to not misunderstand.

Seeing his strange behavior, Aiz asked tentatively, “You didn’t like it…after all, then?”

“Ehhhh?!”

Bell’s head shot up.

Next thing she knew, his already flushed face grew even darker as his hands leaped up in frantic denial.

“I don’t hate it at all! In fact, it’s more like a-a side benefit? I-I mean, no! No, that’s not what I meant! Forget that! I mean, I did enjoy it, but—Wait, I didn’t mean that in a weird way…!”

He rattled off one thing after another, unable to communicate his thoughts while his face became redder than an apple.

“Then…will you let me try it on you again?”

“More than let you, I want you to do it, but…it’s just that, you know, it’d be embarrassing and pathetic…I mean, it’s really only something you do when someone’s passed out and there’s no other option, right—?!”

“So…as long as I only do it when you’re unconscious, it’s fine, right?”

“Huh?”

Aiz rose to her feet in one swift motion, readying her scabbard.

Her golden eyes bored into Bell with intense desire.

Aiz’s spirit was unwilling to yield to Riveria’s evaluation, but more important, a wish to hold the white rabbit in her lap once more bloomed inside. Her heart would be soothed and she would ruffle his soft white fur.

Bit by bit.

She steadily whittled down the distance between them.

The strange atmosphere she’d created was too much for Bell to stay silent. “M-Miss Aiz? Miss Aiz?! Why are you looking at me like that?!”

“You’re imagining things.”

Bell fearfully readied his dagger and prepared to back up, only to realize he was already against the wall. There was nowhere to run.

Eyes glimmering with an all-consuming longing, Aiz eliminated any doubts the boy had as she practically flew toward him.

Not even two seconds went by before Bell’s shrieking “Gaaahhh!!” rose into the sky.

Several minutes later…

Bell was, once again, passed out cold with his head neatly positioned in Aiz’s lap. She ran her fingers through his bangs over and over, a blissfully satisfied look on her face.

A few more minutes later…

Aiz started with a gasp—she’d completely forgotten the original purpose of their training.

When at last the boy’s eyes reopened, she peppered him with apologies.

I don’t think it is a stretch to say Ais had strong feelings regarding her lap pillows (I know, you wouldn't have guessed from the anime). There is also an SS showing her worry on how to give them and another SS showing that Syr/Freya chose a lap pillow of all things to mess with Bell and Ais to great effect (Syr blackmailed Bell into giving her a lap pillow in MS8, cut in the anime).

Now on to the next thing Ais remembered:

“I feel like I have to fight with you on the city wall.”

“—!”

“I feel like I have to teach you and learn from you.”

It isn’t suprising Ais would remember fighting with Bell on the wall. Ais had particularly strong feelings regarding her training with Bell and the entire lead up to it. Ais summarized her feelings well:

All of a sudden, the morning sun beamed toward them, the resulting radiance flooding Aiz’s field of vision with white.

The boy stood there, haloed in pure-white resplendence. A sort of euphoria escaped Aiz’s lips at the sight, and she smiled from the bottom of her heart.

“That’s it, then, I guess…” Aiz whispered with a sigh.

The sun was already peeking over the majestic mountains of the eastern sky, almost like a signal that their week of training had come to an end.

Aiz turned toward that sight, squinting at daybreak’s glorious fire. The boy did the same before turning back to her and bowing his head.

“Thank you. Thank you for everything,” he said, bending at the waist and facing the stone beneath his feet.

Their one week together had been short. Too short, it seemed, and as Aiz looked back over their seven-day tryst, she felt her heart and mind flood with emotion.

She hadn’t uncovered a single thing about Bell’s uncanny growth. However, without even noticing it, she’d learned how enjoyable it was watching him improve from one day to the next, what it felt like to have her heart flutter, and the pure bliss that came from knowing she could teach another.

And for Aiz, who’d known nothing but combat for as long as she could remember, this made her happy.

It had been a path of joy and sorrow, frantic worrying, despondent wallowing, profound thinking, and utter happiness that had brought the two of them to this point.

She embraced this time, this irreplaceable moment they had shared, deep within her heart.

After a while, Bell rose, his white hair fluttering in the breeze and making him look even more like a rabbit than usual.

Their eyes met.

“I would also like to thank you. It was…fun,” she said quietly, voice reverberating with a warmth that surprised even herself as her eyes softened.

She smiled once more, the two of them bathed in morning’s first light.

Bell’s face instantly reddened, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly as he stared at his feet. Seeing this only made her smile widen. If there was one thing that hadn’t changed during their week of training, it was his constant embarrassment.

Who knew the white rabbit could be so shy?

“…Good luck…with everything.”

“…Thank you.”

Aiz slowly tore her gaze away before turning around.

It was time for the two of them to begin running again. With those last few words, she began to pull away, knowing she’d regret it if she allowed herself to pause here.

This wasn’t good-bye.

From here on out, the two of them would be facing their own objectives, aiming for their own separate peaks.

“…”

Aiz walked a few steps along the top of the wall glowing in sunlight, then slowly turned back around.

The boy had already turned his back to her, far off now as he ran along his own path.

Inhaling a deep breath of all that vast morning blue, she curled her lips into a smile.

“…See you again.”

And then, turning her back to the boy, she ran.

She embraced their time together, deep within her heart. Her bond and feelings even saved her in SO12:

At that moment, she heard the sound of a giant bell.

“----------”

In a world closed off from everything but the enemy before her, it still reached Aiz’s ears. The Aiz in her heart opened her eyes wide and snapped her face up.

It was the sound of a blessing. The morning bell signaling the dawn. It was a song of recovery. A light appeared beyond the horizon in a world that had been swallowed by an ocean of darkness. It illuminated Aiz’s heart, like the declaration that the sun would rise again—that there was no such thing as a never-ending night.

“-----Bell!”

She knew it was his battle cry—from the culmination of all her feelings up until that day.

The ringing tickled Aiz’s ears, resounded through her whole body, and reached her heart—chipping away at the force of the rampaging black fire. The dark flames that were burning her back—that she had lost all ability to control—were purified by that white light.

“This is…?!”

Levis looked irritated as the bell continued to thunder magnificently.

Aiz’s arms moved as if being led. They traded blows. An evenly matched tremor. Even though the black blaze withered, her wind continued to blow strong. As her Skill fell silent, Airiel increased its output, as if wrapping her in its embrace.

Each chime of the bell that reached their battlefield shook their bodies. Its sound overlapped with the swords’ melody.

Remember that sunrise at the top of the wall.

Remember the image of that pure boy’s advance.

Remember the smile that crossed my lips reflected in his eyes.

That had been a remnant of Aiz’s face left over from days past.

“--------------”

---There is no going back. I can’t turn back anymore. I can’t remember those memories.

---But is that really true?

The younger Aiz was smiling with teary eyes as she responded to the grown Aiz’s thoughts. And then, as she rubbed the tears from her smiling cheeks, the young Aiz unraveled and became the wind.

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

A resolute voice thundered out. A single decisive blow drew near.

Levis sensed danger as the bell continued to grow stronger and swung her sword, signaling the conclusion of the battle was nigh. The floor shattered as she stepped in, and she sliced even the air as the weapon advanced, slamming into the black storm.

The next instant, the wind encasing Aiz’s sword and the current covering her entire body burst.

“What?!”

After a moment’s struggle, the black storm dispersed. The force field disappeared. Levis’s deadly blow was pushed from its path by the wind, its power and momentum losing their direction as the deadly blow slipped past Aiz’s side. As the corrupted sword grazed by Aiz, her right arm, gauntlet, and shoulder armor were blown away. Slipping past Levis, Aiz felt her eyes go wide, as if her mind were elsewhere.

Her field of vision had been eaten away by the black blaze, until it suddenly widened again. White feathers seemed to scatter before her, and her monochrome world filled with color. The young Aiz had disappeared, becoming a gentle breeze blowing a tuft of her beautiful golden hair.

…

“Bell…”

The boy was sleeping. He was sitting on the ground, his upper body leaning against the wall. He seemed utterly exhausted. There was no indication that he would wake up any time soon.

Aiz smiled and sat down next to him.

“…You…saved me.”

They were words that he would never hear, but she still looked at him as she whispered in his ear.

No one noticed them there. The group was mostly of Loki Familia adventurers, who were already pushing themselves, walking around the encampment, checking on the condition of those who were wounded. Watching all that in the background, she continued to whisper.

“I won…thanks to you.”

Aiz had defeated Levis with his ringing bell. If it were not for that, Aiz would have been consumed by the black flames without ever making it back.

It was always like that. Like when she had found him collapsed in the Dungeon and gotten close to him. Her heart had become clear, like her spirit was being cleansed. The black flames had disappeared. It was as if she had reclaimed just a little bit of something—of her more innocent self. Not realizing that her expression was still softening, Aiz’s lips spread into a wider smile.

“I could hear…your voice.”

Finally, the boy’s head slid to the side, falling against Aiz’s shoulder. But that weight felt comfortable. Letting go of her last bit of strength, Aiz leaned closer to him.

“Thank you, Bell.”

She did not know whether she had gained anything. In exchange for victory, some people must have lost things that were important to them.

But right now, in that one moment, she allowed herself to lean against Bell and sleep peacefully.

And the final thing she remembered:

“I feel like I made a promise with someone…who said they wanted to become strong…”

I can’t really do it justice here in a post like this of all of the development and feelings in Xenos arc. It was a very difficult, very emotional struggle for both Bell and Ais that they were able to work through, and in the end, they were able to learn from each other and preserve their bond. To learn more about Ais’s side, you’ll have to read SO10 and SO11. In short, after the Xenos arc struggle, Ais was depressed for three days having her beliefs turned upside down. After talking with Riveria she was able to decide to see Bell. Not exactly sure why she was going to talk to him, she found him on the wall where he had been going to every day after the Xenos struggle:

Despite crossing blades and their struggles, their bond had not been broken. Bell’s vow to become stronger struck Ais’s heart to its core and the above also shows why she felt she had to learn from him after being deeply affected by the struggles with the Xenos. This all led to her being able to overcome her deep-rooted prejudice towards monsters and acknowledge that some monsters can have the heart of a human. No small change by any means for Ais who has lost everything to monsters; her interactions with Bell as the catalyst.

What about the other girls, like Lili, Haruhime, or Eina? Shouldn’t they have been able to do what Ais did? While they undoubtedly have a bond and strong feelings for Bell, I believe the difference comes down to time and perhaps personality. Eina and the Hestia familia members were the first to reject Bell after he became a Freya familia member, leaving them with less time to develop a resistance to Freya’s charm compared to Ais. Omori even showed Lili starting to recall her feelings and interactions with Bell in this SS like Ais did.

Beyond time, Ais’s personality perhaps gave her an edge. Ais is a quiet, socially awkward individual with muted expressions—someone who is less likely show outward expression despite strong emotions. This contrasts with Lili, whose natural distrust of adventurers might have heightened her initial resistance to a Freya Familia member, or Haruhime, who reacted with fear when approached by a man from Freya familia she didn’t recognize. Eina, while unable to remember Bell, handled the situation professionally, as expected of a guild employee. On the other hand, Tione and Tiona, being boisterous Amazons, likely wouldn’t hold back in expressing their emotions or suspicions when confronted by someone from Freya Familia.

True to Ais's nature, her emotional struggle remained hidden until the moment she took Bell’s hand. Her shock at the action was her first noticeable outward reaction, even as Bell watched closely for any sign of rejection. Her actions seemed to surprise even her:

As she passes, she takes my hand.

“----”

I look up.

I stare at her with wide-open eyes.

Aiz stops and is gripping my hand firmly.

Her eyes are widened, too, like mirrors as her slender fingers squeeze my hand.

“A-Aiz?”

“Wh-what are you doing?”

Tione and Tiona are openly confused as time stops for the two of us.

Everything around me fades. She is all that is reflected in my eyes. I can’t bring myself to say anything.

Her lips tremble slightly.

“……D…”

And finally, she speaks.

“Do you want to train?”

“““Huh?”””

The sisters and I have the same reaction.

Our eyes narrow, and our jaws hang slack at the utterly out-of-nowhere question.

Ignoring our reaction, Aiz looks extraordinarily serious as she desperately tries to put her thoughts into words.

Lastly, it also isn’t unusual for Ais to say something out of the blue without fully understanding the meaning behind it in social situations. She nearly got herself killed when she went to train with Freya familia, not understanding what she was doing wrong in how she approached them. Other similar examples can be found here _Include_Me_Too)and here_After_Her_Return). That trait was also illustrated in this SS where she casually dropped a bombshell that Ryu and she were talking about Bell:

"We just happened to meet too. Right now, we're really curious about Bell, so we're conducting a street survey!"

"Hey, please don't phrase it in a way that could be misunderstood! It's not like I'm interested in that human!"

"Oh... we were also talking about what we think of Bell."

"Eeeehhhh?!"

Syr answered Ryuu's question with a smile, then Lefiya tried to stop her, but Ais's bombshell statement made Lefiya raise her voice again.

In short, it wouldn’t be entirely out of character for Ais to impulsively ask Bell to train with her, without considering the social consequences or appearance, even if she still remembered him as a member of the Freya Familia. Her desire to train with him could have overridden her confusion and hesitation as she grappled with her emotions. After all, she has trained with Freya familia before. Even Bell suspected that she didn’t recognize him as the Bell Cranel from the Hestia Familia and it was hinted she didn’t fully understand why she was saying what she said:

Aiz is stunned.

She might not even know why she said what she did.

But that’s enough for me.

…

However much I might be sure of myself, as far as the world is concerned, I am still Freya Familia’s Bell Cranell, and it’s not like Aiz or anyone else actually remembers the Hestia Familia Bell.

If you got this far, thanks for reading and I hope this explanation helps to understand even just a bit more.

Note: Tiona is an exception on having enough time to resist, but Omori did give us a cool SS that alluded to why she couldn't remember him, unlike the princess Ais, while foreshadowing Ais's role in the story:

Here is Bell’s interaction with Ais in its entirety for those curious:

Bell constantly makes “foolish” decisions that could possibly ruin his entire life. Like when he decided to save Haruhime or when he decided to protect the Xenos. But it all works out in the end without consequences because plot armor. So when Aiz tries to copy him, let’s just say she won’t get out without the consequences…

What do you think will be Bell’s endpoint or endgame? Where do you think he’ll be at the end of the series or beyond?

https://x.com/danmachi_GA/status/1854134113860767842?t=ejAWhLTX9WZdGV86wLXAlw&s=19

No way they’re going to keep her old name: Gale Wind since the Guild has publicly declared her dead — although everyone knows the truth. With Lyu now having her long golden hair back, maybe she’ll get a cool nickname like Golden Wind?

HAHAHAHHAHA LOL i feel bad

/s

The name of the Eighth and Ninth swords are Zard and Alfia

The name of the tenth and eleventh are "Regnant" and "Maximum". The title of the Zeus captain was "Maxim"

Makes me think that the Ruby text above each levels of the sword are titles of heroes, or the modern ones which are part of the Zeus and Hera Familias

Here are spoilers for the rest of Ch1 after preview that I found and received.

Hestia Familia including Nina go on expedition. The expedition seems to be a mandatory one which they need to show they are making progress in the dungeon. They set up camp on 28th floor safety point and gather monster drops on 29th floor, spending few days there. The region that starts from 29th floor have dinosaur type monsters which are mainly the reason why it’s recommended to be at least Lv3 there. The Lv2 members are struggling when only Mikoto is given level boost. Bell easily defeats enhanced species of Bloodsaurus, the strongest dinosaur type that came from 30th floor.

Nina’s Magia Kris doesn't just heal wounds, it can also extend duration of the buffing effects received from other magic or items which Haruhime’s level boost gets extended by 5 minutes. Her healing magic also reduces the amount of mind consumption of the people she uses it on, so the need of magic potions is almost completely eliminated unless they use insane amount of magic constantly. Hestia Familia end up not using any magic potion in the expedition thanks to Nina.

There is Denatus in the chapter but only Hestia Familia members getting new alias is shown. The gods decide to leave Bell’s alias remain as Rabbit Foot since he will probably rank up again by the next Denatus anyway. Funny suggestions include Bell Flova and New Generation Zeus. Lili’s alias is “Little Marshall” and Haruhime’s is “Rikkou Kinshu (六光金主, means Six Lights Supporter).

Other things that happen in the chapter include Bell tries to turn down Ryu’s confession but she asks him not to say anything because she knows what he is going to say and wants things to be left as they are for now. Syr had convinced Hestia to let her stay at their home sometimes.

Now that it’s pretty much confirmed that Leon with his magic is even stronger than Ottar with beastification, how strong is he compared to Zard and Alfia? At the time of their first appearance, Oomori stated that Zard and Alfia were the strongest characters introduced in the series after Albert. Now Leon has been introduced. While I don’t think the weakened versions of Zard and Alfia after the fight with OEBD and the ones Orario defeated would be able to defeat Leon, do you think prime Zard and Alfia could? Personally, I think that although it would be a high diff fight, they would each be able to defeat Leon considering their own broken abilities and experience. What do you guys think?