Isn't that Hephaestus's advantage? What does it have to do with you?
Hearing Hestia's forceful argument, the gods all looked at her with strange expressions. Claiming someone else's advantage as her own so openly really did take an impressive amount of shamelessness.
Then, seeing Hephaestus trembling all over after hearing Hestia's proud declaration, the gods couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for her.
Under the expectant gazes of the gods, Hephaestus finally snapped.
"Thud!"
She slammed a heavy fist down on Hestia's head, who was still basking in her own self-satisfaction.
So satisfying.
That punch made the gods feel much better instantly. There was no helping it. Hestia's words just now had been far too infuriating.
This girl was truly bad at everything except being unbelievably lucky. The child who knew the future had set his sights directly on Hestia. Didn't that mean none of the other gods had even made it onto his list?
How could the gods possibly accept that?
So when Hephaestus decisively stepped in to teach Hestia a lesson, the gods watched with great satisfaction.
"Ow! Hephaestus, why did you hit me?"
"Why? Because you deserve it!"
When Hephaestus ground her teeth as she said that, almost none of the gods sided against her. After all, just as she said, Hestia really had been asking for it.
"If you hadn't pulled those ridiculous stunts in Orario and scared off every single child in the Genkai from joining your familia, do you really think Bell would've joined you?"
Hephaestus could see it clearly now. Bell coming to her to recommend himself may indeed have been partly to probe Hestia's whereabouts. But if Hestia had already had familia members at that time, then Bell's recommendation would have been genuine.
Unfortunately, Hestia had practically staged a 'Don't Join My Familia' spectacle in Orario, making almost no one willing to join her familia. On top of that, everyone learned that Hestia was an extremely unreliable goddess.
What kind of behavior was that? It was practically rejecting every child of the Genkai outright.
That was exactly why she had recommended Bell, who had come to her to recommend himself, to join Hestia's familia.
"That's just a hypothetical. The reality is that Bell joined my familia."
Hestia didn't feel the slightest bit ashamed. Losing a bit of face didn't matter. If losing face meant gaining Bell, she couldn't care less.
"And I rejected other Genkai children even before Bell came to Orario. That proves there's fate connecting me and Bell."
It sounded like twisted logic, yet in the end, it really did turn out to be true.
"Ladies, I don't want to interrupt your discussion, but it seems that child is about to start challenging the Floor Boss."
Seeing the two goddesses still arguing over the same topic while the other gods continued watching like spectators, the "Empress" kindly reminded them.
"!"
All the gods were startled and hurriedly turned to the projection.
The boy whose face was still blurred had already arrived at the entrance to the 17th floor, and the view had switched to his perspective.
"A demigod? Hmm, definitely a demigod. A god without Authority equipped."
"But compared to Goliath, this one's even bigger. Over two hundred meters? A normal Goliath is only about fifty meters tall. This is basically a Titan."
Bell's gaze swept left and right as he confirmed the situation.
"The scale of the 17th floor is dozens of times larger than usual. It feels like it was deliberately prepared to create a battlefield like this."
"The space itself is much sturdier too. Looks like I can use a bit more force without shattering the entire floor."
Bell was genuinely concerned about accidentally breaking the floor. After all, he hadn't even tested where his upper limit truly lay.
On previous floors, he hadn't dared to test his strength freely.
He had already tested his lower limit, and it was fully under his control. What he lacked now was an understanding of his upper limit.
That was why this Floor Boss was so important.
"Alright, I'll start."
Bell's figure flashed, and the projection instantly showed him standing on Goliath's shoulder. His fist had already been thrown, smashing straight into Goliath's right cheek.
"Boom!"
Goliath's massive body reeled as if struck by an overwhelming force. The two-hundred-meter-tall giant staggered, and the right side of his face, which took the hit directly, was completely shattered.
That result made Bell glance at his fist with mild surprise.
"I knew my strength had increased a lot, but I didn't expect it to reach this level."
Suddenly, Bell caught sight of Goliath's right hand reaching for him out of the corner of his eye.
The howling wind rushed toward him. The speed far exceeded that of an ordinary Goliath, reaching Bell in the blink of an eye.
"Boom!"
…
The collision between hand and shoulder produced an enormous sound.
The projection briefly zoomed out, then quickly snapped to a close-up.
The scene shown on the screen plunged both worlds into temporary silence.
The boy extended his right index finger, lightly pressing it against Goliath's palm, a hand that looked like the horizon itself. Yet Goliath's palm couldn't move even an inch. Instead, all of its motion was completely suppressed by that single finger.
"So this is the gap between five-digit and four-digit strength?"
"This gap is even greater than the difference between an ant and a demigod."
They were separated by only a single tier, yet that difference was like an insurmountable chasm.
The power that defined the five-digit tier was almost meaningless in front of the four-digit tier. Even though the four-digit side wasn't particularly skilled at direct clashes of strength, the gap was still that vast.
Even after understanding this, Bell still couldn't determine where his own upper limit lay.
So the testing had only just begun.
What he had confirmed so far was merely the standard for five-digit power. Trying to explore the upper limit of four-digit strength using that benchmark was still difficult.
All Bell could do was continue and see if he could find his limit.
"Then let's keep going."
"The testing has only just begun."