"Has that child already reached the point where he can enter this realm?"
Within the Hermes Familia, the moment Hermes saw the Stream of Light, his entire expression froze.
His facial muscles twitched uncontrollably. Even witnessing it with his own eyes, he felt the same as Artemis had earlier—it was as if he were dreaming, a dream so absurd it defied reason.
"Hermes-sama, what exactly is the Stream of Light?"
Asfi's question pulled Hermes back to his senses. After confirming he wasn't dreaming, he began his explanation.
"It's a state one can only enter after reaching an extreme threshold of speed. In Tenkai, we call it the Stream of Light—flowing radiance. Light itself cannot be caught, and flowing light even less so. It's essentially divine speed."
"Like what Bell just did—he crossed a distance that would take a Wyvern ten days to fly, in an instant."
"Wouldn't that make him unbeatable?"
Asfi reacted immediately upon hearing that.
But Hermes shook his head slightly.
"If he could freely enter the Stream of Light at will, then yes—his speed would truly be godlike. But judging from what I saw, this was the first time he consciously entered that state. He hasn't yet mastered spatial perception within it. Otherwise, he could have taken the Sword Princess straight to Artemis's exact location."
"Also, controlling distance within the Stream of Light is incredibly difficult. Bell may have reached that speed, but think—how did he use it?"
Asfi thought back carefully to the image she'd seen. Then she remembered—just before entering that state, Bell had leapt over a hundred meters into the sky while carrying Ais. The realization dawned on her instantly.
"He deliberately avoided obstacles ahead of him."
Hermes nodded, giving her a look of approval.
"Exactly. It may have been his first time entering the Stream, but he still made sure there was nothing in front of him. Why take such care? Because even he was afraid of losing control at that extreme of speed. So instinctively, he chose the safest approach."
After setting Ais down, Bell exhaled softly, trying to steady himself.
'I didn't expect… I never thought… pushing Lightning Transformation to its limit could produce something like this.'
Just as Hermes had guessed, Bell hadn't anticipated that taking his Lightning Transformation to its extreme would cause such a breakthrough.
He had only intended to shorten the travel time slightly—but instead, he had instantly surpassed its maximum speed, reaching the speed of light itself.
Right now, Bell felt no excitement—only relief.
'Thank goodness. If I'd hit something at that speed, that would've been the end.'
He considered his body honed to the utmost, but that didn't mean he was eager to test it against stone at light speed.
'Power I can't control isn't my power.'
That single belief was enough for Bell to set the ability aside for now.
Unless he could one day master it completely, he wouldn't count it as part of his strength.
Having made that decision, he turned his attention back to his surroundings.
A nauseating stench—one that seemed to seep from the very soul of the place—made him frown.
"Ugh… what a disgusting smell."
"It's like mixing pickled bamboo shoots into a pot of stinky tofu."
Even Bell, with his strong will, felt his stomach turn.
Suppressing his sense of smell, he focused his attention on his sight instead.
Thin black smoke rose from the center of the lake island ahead. Even with his dulled senses, he could tell the stench came from that very smoke.
Through his enhanced vision, Bell even caught faint traces of golden light flickering within the darkness.
"No mistake about it—it's coming from beneath that lake island."
"Antares..."
His ears twitched. From the distant forest came the sound of countless creatures crawling and rushing toward his position.
'Looks like they picked up on the energy fluctuation I let slip earlier.'
Bell wasn't surprised. After all, any monster capable of devouring a god wouldn't be weak.
"Sword Princess, the enemy's clones are rapidly closing in on us."
At the report, Ais's gaze sharpened instantly as she drew the "Desperate" from her waist pouch.
"Right front, five thousand meters ahead—246 scorpion-type monsters approaching. Estimated Level 2. They're not strong individually, but their numbers and venomous stingers make them dangerous. Stay cautious."
"Understood."
Ais memorized the information, then lowered her stance as wind began to gather densely around her.
"Tempest."
With the roar of magic, the wind exploded outward, driving her forward with immense force.
As Orario's most famous adventurer—the "Sword Princess"—Ais wielded the magic known as "Ariel." By cloaking herself in wind, she enhanced her attack, defense, and speed. Its simplicity and efficiency were among the reasons she had risen to Orario's top ranks.
The wind surged around her, pushing her speed to its limit.
In just fifteen seconds, she crossed the five-thousand-meter distance and caught sight of the scorpions crawling through the forest.
Their bodies were dark purple-black, tails raised and stingers gleaming with a faint violet light that made their danger unmistakable.
Yet against these venomous beasts, Ais advanced with only her slender sword, diving into the swarm enveloped in a hurricane.
In an instant, the scorpions were scattered.
Those that recovered lunged at her, claws snapping and stingers poised. But Ais was faster—far faster.
Before they could even close in, she sliced them apart with wind-empowered precision.
Her figure darted through the swarm again and again, and with each movement, dozens of scorpions fell. The 246 scorpions lasted less than a minute.
For a low-level adventurer, such a feat would be unthinkable. Only someone like Ais could rightfully bear the title of Orario's "Sword Princess."
"Clap, clap, clap."
After Ais had finished the battle, Bell arrived late, applauding her strength with genuine admiration.
"Compared to our last expedition, you've improved tremendously, Sword Princess. Your control over magic has become sharper and more refined than ever."
But Ais frowned, her expression clouded. The words "tremendous improvement" only seemed to trouble her more.
"I haven't improved that much."