Danmachi: Is It Wrong to Be the Main Character in Orario?-Chapter 781: Sinking into the Inner Soul

An hour later, in the courtyard garden of the Hestia familia, a stone bed sat at the center of a space densely layered with Barrier.

Though the surrounding air carried a refreshing scent, the silence felt heavy and foreboding.

Bell lay on the stone bed like a patient awaiting surgery, and the one performing the delicate operation was a beautiful goddess.

He turned his head toward Freya standing outside the barrier.

"Freya, I’m leaving this to you."

"......I understand. But remember this: if you don’t come back before tomorrow, I’ll go in there and drag you out myself."

Freya had already fully prepared for that possibility.

Once one’s consciousness sank into the innermost layer of the soul, returning became extraordinarily difficult. But what she hated most was failing to seize her beloved right now. She would absolutely force her way in if needed—trouble or no trouble.

Bell, lying on the stone bed, could only look toward the sky. He appreciated Freya’s worry, but he had never said anything about letting himself be lost in the depths of his soul.

"I’ll be back tonight."

From the beginning, Bell had never intended to let himself sink completely. In fact, a faint premonition stirred within him—this time, he might obtain many answers.

Freya naturally believed him, so she adhered to their agreement. If Bell didn’t return by tomorrow, she would personally go bring him back.

She then called upon her Authority, guiding Bell’s consciousness downward, back to the entrance of the "Wall of Lamentation."

Feeling his consciousness grow heavy, Bell simply released all resistance and let himself drift.

It’s starting.

His awareness grew hazy. Bell slowly closed his eyes.

So sleepy... He had never experienced such overwhelming drowsiness.

His consciousness drifted deeper into the soul, like lying on a leaking boat that slowly sank its passenger into the bottomless ocean.

As his awareness continued to fall away, the barrier Bell had prepared around his body activated instantly.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

A multitude of barriers rose at once.

This formation was exceptionally constructed—designed entirely for internal containment. Unless someone inside the barrier actively dispelled it, breaking out from within would be nearly impossible.

Bell’s preparations were meticulous.

Unfortunately...

"BOOM!!!"

The moment Bell’s consciousness sank completely, a tremendous roar exploded from somewhere within the dimensional space.

"!"

Instinctively, all the goddesses covered their ears.

Yet even with their ears tightly sealed, the omnipresent sound pierced straight through.

"Look!"

Freya, snapping back to focus, kept her gaze fixed on the central stone bed. And then she saw the eerie transformation.

Black sludge—like tar from the abyss—began spreading across the floor around the stone bed.

"Splat!"

Suddenly, a pitch-black creature clawed its way up from the sludge—a creature with only a single eye and a wide, jagged mouth.

"Creak... creak..."

The monster uttered low, strange noises. It didn’t attack Bell; instead, it fixed the goddesses with a wary, challenging stare.

As if warning them not to do anything reckless.

What is this?

Freya didn’t yet comprehend it, but more creatures crawled out one after another.

Within moments, dozens of identical pitch-black creatures had formed an impenetrable circle around Bell. Not a single gap remained. It was practically a guard formation.

Then, the sphere that had been absorbing power without any reaction suddenly manifested fully.

It appeared directly above Bell’s sleeping form.

"!"

An indescribable sound rippled outward, forming a black membrane that sealed the entire area around the stone bed. The place became an isolated domain—an otherworldly magic realm.

The sphere, having created this domain, did not vanish. It hovered above Bell like a dark sun.

The abrupt scene rendered all the goddesses speechless.

Freya—quickest to process—came back to herself first.

Her eyes swept over the strange creatures, each with a single eye and a single mouth.

"Did you notice it? Every one of them has the power of a god..."

"!?"

Artemis quickly extended her senses—and the shock hit her immediately.

"Darling’s secrets run way too deep..."

Even Artemis could only click her tongue. It was difficult enough to imagine these monstrous things existing at all, but each one possessing god-level power?

And even more absurd—they appeared to protect Bell.

Freya inhaled deeply, letting the shock fade into a steady calm.

"Bell is someone chosen by two ’worlds.’ The secret inside him must be the real reason those two ’worlds’ invested in him."

She could feel it clearly now—it wasn’t the mysterious sphere created by Bell they were after. It was Bell himself.

Unaware of any of this, Bell’s consciousness continued sinking.

Splash.

It felt like falling into water...

But he sensed no moisture, no temperature, not even the smell of water. When Bell slowly opened his eyes, he found himself lying before the same giant door.

He tightened his abdomen and pushed himself up from the ground. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"So this is the innermost part of my soul?"

"Freya pulled me in once before, but this time feels completely different."

The towering door remained as grand as ever, but the carvings and colors had deepened—almost as if the door had been refined.

Bell looked down at his hand and lightly clenched his fist.

"Yeah... I can’t sense any power here at all."

Perhaps because this was the inner soul, all magic and Authorities vanished.

"This should clearly be the worst-case scenario, so why am I this calm?"

He should’ve been anxious, but instead the place made him feel steady.

"Well... no point worrying now. Time to look for it—the clues that belong to me."