The five goddesses fell silent, each pondering what Bell had discovered that prompted him to accelerate his actions.
Then Artemis suddenly realized.
"Could it be that he noticed something special about Balor, gaining insight for the upcoming strategy, which made Bell choose to speed up?"
Artemis's suggestion made the other goddesses' eyes light up.
"Right! The issue lies with Balor!"
Loki, now fully alert, quickly grasped the heart of the matter. Bell's sudden change in pace clearly stemmed from something he noticed about Balor. It was precisely this discovery that caused Bell to accelerate.
"But Balor has always been at a disadvantage against Bell. The only time he managed to hurt Bell was when Bell deliberately moved in for the attack. So, what exactly about Balor caught Bell's attention?"
The core of the problem had been pinpointed, but the question remained: What was it about Balor?
Loki tried hard to recall the moments when Bell's behavior had changed significantly, focusing on the events surrounding Balor during that time.
"I remember that Bell was trying to stall for time with Balor—partly to test how Balor's power affected him, and partly because the 50th floor was a safe zone."
Loki's analysis was spot on, covering most of the considerations Bell would have had.
"Right after that, Bell suddenly changed his approach. So, what happened to Balor before that?"
Hephaestus suddenly had a realization.
"I remember Bell had just crushed Balor's head and even severed it with a kick. The projection clearly highlighted in red how the curses on Balor's body were rapidly spreading."
"Was it because of how fast the curses were spreading?"
"Is that it?"
Hephaestus's point triggered a memory in the others, but Artemis, hidden inside her own mind, couldn't contain herself and blurted out impatiently.
"Idiot! Idiot!"
"The key issue isn't the speed of the curse's spread. When the body suffers damage, if a lot of energy is consumed for regeneration, it naturally triggers rapid internal curse flow. And that kind of flow is hard to notice."
"So the key isn't the curse's spread speed, but the dragon's regeneration speed!"
Since attending Denatus required a god's identity in this world, Artemis had been observing in Stealth.
Although she viewed from a unique angle, Artemis was undoubtedly paying more attention than anyone else. She was fully focused on watching Bell's battles and naturally noticed the issues he discovered after his transformation.
"The dragon's regeneration speed is far faster than that of the giant. Even with the difference in depth, which made the dragon much stronger than the giant, the disparity in regeneration speed shouldn't be this extreme."
"Especially when the dragon's head was severed—before it even hit the ground, newly regenerated flesh buds had already grasped it, swiftly starting the regeneration process."
"That regeneration speed was far too fast. Darling changed his combat style right after that, even unleashing the 'Seven Deadly Sins' one after another."
Regeneration speed.
With this new focus, the four goddesses all recalled the vivid image of Balor's regeneration.
"It was indeed much faster than Goliath's."
Hestia nodded slightly, but Loki jumped in with her own comment.
"Shorty, it wasn't just faster—it was drastically faster."
After a moment of thought, Loki continued her previous point.
"We now know that the dungeon is a stepping stone prepared for Bell by 'The World,' meant to accelerate his growth. That's why Goliath, Amphisbaena, and Balor are all demigods."
"That was the first half—the adaptation period for Bell."
"Bells must have realized this during the fight, which is why he chose to accelerate when facing Balor. He must have realized that what's coming next won't be mere demigods, but deities themselves—beings on our level."
As she spoke, Loki's expression became more serious.
Monsters inherently have a fighting instinct. If a monster attains god-tier power, such a being would become incredibly difficult to deal with.
The difference between demigods and gods lies in the possession of divine authority.
But the gap between gods who wield that authority and demigods who cannot is an entirely different concept—the disparity in strength is staggering.
"God-tier? That certainly sounds troublesome."
Freya now understood why Bell had changed his approach so suddenly, but she was also sure that Bell hadn't just realized that god-tier beings would intervene.
"Still, Bell shouldn't have been caught off guard by 'The World' sending a god-tier being. He probably figured it out when he saw those initial Level 5 goblins."
"I think Bell's acceleration wasn't because he knew gods would intervene. Instead, he saw in Balor the potential for power close to god-tier."
Freya now had a clearer understanding of Bell's reasoning.
"Perhaps Bell didn't expect god-tier monsters to appear so soon, at least not until after Floor 50. His original plan was probably to start preparations tomorrow, but seeing Balor's condition made him choose to prepare early."
Freya let out a sigh of relief after coming to this conclusion.
The others felt similarly, but they couldn't help but feel a little exasperated at how much time they'd spent analyzing the situation earlier.
"Couldn't he just stop being so cautious sometimes? He discovers something and immediately starts preparing, making us worry for hours."
Loki couldn't help but complain, while Hestia didn't seem as bothered.
"He's always been like this. I've gotten used to it."
Having spent the most time with Bell, Hestia knew him better than anyone.
"Sometimes Bell is incredibly cautious, but when unexpected situations arise, he adjusts based on his circumstances. The thing is, those adjustments aren't always as careful as they should be."
"Especially when intelligence about the dungeon's later stages hasn't arrived—Bell becomes extra sensitive in those situations. If he reacts unusually in the next second, I wouldn't be surprised."
Thus, Hestia had come to understand Bell's habits very well.