Oof, as expected, even though Hermes and Ouranos were able to pin the blame of the monsters incident on Ikelos and banished him from Orario (not sure if that was really good idea though >_>;;;), Bell is still being scorned by the towns people, the ultimate target for their malice. And yet despite all that, apart from his Goddess and his own Familia, there was one other person whose feelings and faith in Bell did not waver.
And that was Syr.
Up until now, I never really pay much mind to Syr’s love for Bell, much less was I interested interested in her character at all. But now that she has shown us how strong her actually are and why she likes him, I have come to appreciate her presence in Bell’s life. In the moment when the whole world is against him, Syr tells he doesn’t need to be afraid and he shouldn’t hesitate because while he may have lost some things, he is not alone. This was really important for Bell to hear, so he knows there are still people outside of his Familia who didn’t let this incident change or add tension to their relationship. I also liked the intimacy in the scene, because Bell was comfortable enough to be vulnerable in front of her, and she was able to sooth his heart in return.
Since the incident, the Xenos have not been able to safely return to the dungeons. Not only has Loki’s Familia had taken foothold of the investigation, there are also many other adventurers who are actively searching for the Xenos, leaving them no choice but to try their best to not be found. Not to mention Freya eyes are on Babel, and the Ganesha Familia has tightened guard at the Dungeon’s entrance to make sure no one could enter. With time running out, Ouranos, Hermes and Hestia are all attempting to attempt to form a collaborative effort with their staple allies to safely escort the Xenos back into the dungeons.
Hestia had hoped they could speak with Loki and work something out, but Hermes quickly shut that down, explaining children would not listen to her. To them they are just monsters, not option other than total annihilation. And that is more or less true (for most part anyways) considering we do know that if they could, they would like to capture one of the Xenos alive to obtain information. But after all said and done, it is unlikely they would be set free, let alone given any aid afterwards. In fact they would probably be killed as soon as they have lost their use. Heck, Finn even went as far to suggest Bell is being used by the monsters and their leader. It just goes to show how they simply can’t wrap their head around the idea that Bell is actively engaged because he wants to help them, and that’s his own will.
So it is going to be tough going up against Loki Familia (who also happen to have really strong and intelligent members). Finn has already seen through their plans of using Bell as the decoy for distraction purposes. Even if they use magic items, how many of them are capable of catching Finn and the other’s off-guard? For that to happen, it would have to be a tool that has never seen light of day. The invisibility cloaks will certainly be helpful, but for as long as there isn’t an item to detect them (which I suspect they will probably have). While Fels has directed them to his workshop to obtain the goods, Welf had also been hard at work, cooped up in his workshop crafting four Magic Swords in preparation for this inevitable fight. (That’s my man!)
I suppose the one minor advantage they might have is the blue print Hermes got a hold of from Ikelos. Thanks to that, they know that there are six entrances into Knossos. Unfortunately Loki’s Familia have already located at least four of them. However Hestia and the others don’t know which ones they are stationed at. So basically the most plan would be to sneak back in through the unguarded entrance, but that is very unlikely to happen– especially say, it isn’t unguarded as they suggest they might be. As much as they want to avoid confrontation, the fight against Loki’s Familia is an inevitable one.
That’s why Hestia Familia needs all the help they can get. Hermes has already gone ahead to try and recruit more allies, sending Asfi off to hire Ryu, offering information on the remnants of Evilus as the reward. But neither Aisha or Ryu seemed to be particularly fond of the idea of escorting the Xenos back into the dungeon. It might have helped that Asfi was able to pull the Bell card (which I thought was absolutely hysterical). We may also be seeing help from their staple allies Hephaestus, Takemikazuchi and Miach. While they all have reservations the about helping the Xenos, just as Takemikazuchi said, whether the Xenos’ existence is right or wrong, that isn’t something they can decide. However they too are in a difficult position because they haven’t disclosed any information about the Xenos to their children. There is only so much a God can do to make sure their children follows orders, so even if they were to agree, they can’t guarantee that their children would agree to the mission. That being said, I would argue they are still in a much better position considering their Familias are very small compared to the likes of Loki’s.
So far the pace for this season has been a great one, and I really like that it was able to focus on one dedicated arc for an exchange because it really keeps up the momentum. I am excited and anxious to see how this operation will go. Who will win the battle of the tactics? Fels the Fool, or the modern king of tactics Finn? Hermes already putting his chips in for Finn (all while dissing the wise sage hahaha), but will Fels actually have a hidden card that could catch him off-guard? Considering his golem was one-shot by Tiona last week, the odds certainly don’t look to be in Fel’s or Bell’s favor.
PS: The Xenos giving Fels shit for suggesting Bell to be the decoy for them was hilarious! Poor guy, can’t catch a break hahahaha!
