"…"
From the very beginning, Bell never expected it to be this complicated.
It turns out that they were counterparts from different worlds and weren't supposed to have any contact with each other.
Yet, they ended up meeting in this way.
"Bell Cranel" didn't really mind Bell's silence.
It was the same for him when he first heard the news that he couldn't believe such a fact either.
Bell suddenly raised his head and just thought of a question.
"Since we are counterparts from different worlds, what about the skills we've awakened?"
'Unfortunately, although there are some differences in magic, there are no differences in skills.'
A light of understanding flashed in Bell's eyes.
It seemed like his situation was still different from the other counterparts from parallel worlds.
The key to breaking the cycle lies within him.
If the skills of counterparts never changed, then the only one who had altered his skill type was the anomaly among the counterparts.
With this in mind, Bell made a decision in his heart.
"The Black Dragon, what kind of creature is it? Why can't so many counterparts defeat it?"
A trace of darkness flashed across both [Bell Cranel's] and 'Bell Cranel's' faces.
The Black Dragon was like an endless, permanent darkness to them—something too big and terrifying to face easily.
However, they still had no intention of hiding the truth. After all, they were counterparts, and they were bound to face the same fate.
The Black Dragon would inevitably need to be defeated, even if it was to break this endless cycle for themselves.
'That creature isn't just hard to deal with, it's extremely hard to defeat it. It's been secretly controlling the dungeon and using it to heal its body. A long time ago, Zeus and Hera's familia tried to defeat it, and even though they were completely wiped out in the end, they still managed to give it wounds that couldn't heal. It's because of these wounds that we now have a chance to defeat it.'
'Moreover, you need to be aware of one thing. You don't have to think about the sky when defeating the Black Dragon.'
"Huh? I remember the three major adventurer guilds considered the Black Dragon to be the 'King of the Sky'. How did it lose the ability to fly?"
'This credit belongs to Zeus and Hera Familia. Zeus and Hera's familia permanently stripped the Black Dragon's right to fly, sealing the sky and forcing the Black Dragon to hide in the deepest parts of the Dungeon. However, even so, it came at the cost of the lives of a Lv. 8 hero and a Lv. 9 empress.'
'Since then, the Black Dragon has controlled the Dungeon and has been using its power to try to heal itself. But no matter how hard it tries, those wings are permanently gone. Because of this, it despises adventurers and just wants to tear them apart whenever it sees one'
'Even though the Black Dragon can't fly anymore, it's still not an easy opponent to deal with. Its skin is so tough that even top-grade weapons can barely scratch it, and its scales are extraordinarily sturdy—even magic doesn't work well on it. You can only defeat it with powerful magic, and even then, you have to hit its old wounds. Moreover, it possesses self-regeneration abilities. If it's not hit by a cursed weapon, it can recover in just a few breaths.'
Just listening to this, Bell could already understand the situation.
If the Black Dragon were an easy monster to kill, it wouldn't have wiped out Zeus and Hera's familia.
Its overall power was probably around Level 10.
'At the very least, we'll need help from other familias when it's time to fight the Black Dragon.'
Bell thought to himself almost instantly.
As for whether he could succeed in defeating the Black Dragon, Bell didn't want to think too much about it.
Even though the other versions of him in different worlds were basically the same person, it didn't mean they had the same powers or way of thinking.
Bell also didn't want anyone to know how he planned to confront the Black Dragon. He could tell that his counterpart in other worlds didn't have the system.
This might be the turning point.
"How about the Loki Familia and the Freya Familia?"
'They participated as well, but in the end, they just repeated the same mistakes from the past.'
'Bell Cranel' didn't elaborate on the outcome, but Bell could almost already guess.
If the familias that tried to defeat the Black Dragon made the same mistakes as Zeus and Hera's familias… it probably meant they were completely wiped out too.
"I understand."
This would never be an easy task, and the occurrence of total wipeout made sense.
However, Bell found it hard to imagine which familia could possibly stand up and carry the weight after the failure of the Freya and Loki familias.
"One last question. There can't be only you two in these countless parallel worlds, right?"
[Bell Cranel] and 'Bell Cranel' fell into a strange silence.
Bell shook his head slightly and already guessed the answer.
Even the counterparts from the so-called "infinite" parallel world have been wiped out this badly.
That showed how nearly impossible defeating the One-Eyed Black Dragon was.
"Let's move on to the magic questions. I know everything I need to know now, and the rest is up to me. If I fail, it means the whole world could be destroyed, and we'll be finished too. However, I have no intention of dying young."
Bell never planned to die that easily from the start. He wasn't a hero and didn't care about being one either.
He simply wanted to have his own "freedom" rather than being bound by fate.
Especially after "fate" had shown him the heavy chains and the endless darkness, the feeling of frustration in Bell's heart grew even stronger.
'Bell Cranel' sighed silently.
The countless versions of them shared the same emotions: the fear of facing despair and the unwillingness to accept fate.
Perhaps it was because these emotions were so strong that the countless cycles of reincarnation began to count down.
"Do your best. Even if we lose everything, there's nothing to be afraid of—because we originally had nothing to begin with."
This would likely be the last time he would say such words.
A hint of "disappointment" flashed in Bell's eyes.
'There's nothing to be afraid of?'
It's precisely because they had nothing in the past that they were even more scared of losing what they have now.