Bell without a doubt is going to be a level 5 by the start of vol 18 so this is probably what's going to happen. Bell will boost his lv5 stats by training with LF, maybe even going on an expedition with them (we don't know how much time will pass since the end of the vol17 and the start of the wargame so it is a posibility) and fighting monsters down in the dungeon like Balor and Udaeus. Then he'll defeat Hedin to level up to lv6. Consecuently, he will fight the rest of the FF executives (with the exception of Ottar) raising his lv6 stats in the process. Finally, he'll fight Ottar, beat him and become lv 7 (maybe by the start of vol 19).

I also always thought that Ottar would be Bell's grand feat to get to level 7. Not to mention that his bond with Ais will strengthen from being around her so much which will make his Liaris Freese ability work in overdrive and it has been 6 books since the last level up so a doble/triple level up doesn't seem that out of touch in my opinion.

If you think I'm wrong please tell me, I'm open to criticism and to be roasted.

I've said this before but I'm thinking a "technical draw". Bell beats him in a way that lets them win the War Game, but doesn't actually defeat him in a 1-on-1 fight.

Unless I missed something it's been stated Vol. 18 will be the entire War Game, so there's not really enough time of any significant training and growth beyond starting the book at Level 5.

Bell's big feat last volume was simply getting a scratch on Hedin, so him suddenly being capable of taking down Ottar, who is significantly stronger, just doesn't feasible, even with extra OP buffs and help.

An unconventional win where Bell demonstrates his improved skillset being able to outsmart and outmaneuver him, but still having him be the wall of unbeatable strength that he represents would fit in line with the rest of the story.

I don’t see Bell beating Ottar by himself personally he will get his butt handed to him.

The thing he did to beat Apollo’s Familia leader will fail with Ottar, and this adventurer has a ton of battle experience.

Bell will require teamwork to win against Ottar i always put my money down on skill and battle experience.

any level Bell besides 7+ suck to Ottar

>Consecuently, he will fight the rest of the FF executives (with the exception of Ottar) raising his lv6 stats in the process.

apart from the fact that I just don't believe he's going to level 6 that fast, he doesn't stand a chance against Allen, Hogni and the Gullivers at the same time anyway. at least, if they will serious

>Finally, he'll fight Ottar, beat him

how? So far, he's only beaten weaklings like Hyacinth, but Ottar's stats are on a whole other level, not to mention his experience. in fact, even a level 7 Bell has no guarantee of victory as long as Ottar has a skill that makes him level 8 and magic that was strong enough to finish off Zard, and as Ottar said, this is his strongest attack, so even the Argonaut Firebolt will have a competitor.

@Sylenzy Personally, I think the Ottar thing serves as a way for Bell and Ais to finally fight together and Bell being able to show Ais that he can keep up with her. Meaning he is no longer someone that slows her down, which was the main reason for her not chasing after him when he ran out and her dropping the idea that she’d take him over anyone else romantically. It’s just too setup properly for Ais and Bell to fight side by side finally and it would make sense for them to fight together now (compared to SO7 when that was suppose to be their first tag team but that wasn’t setup properly or developed properly). This would also, like you were saying, allow Liaris Freese to go into maybe an “overdrive” state since he can finally fight alongside the one he loves (allowing him to gain even more exilia). Which i think this is going to happen eventually since technically (with the timeline that we have left) Bell needs to level up a bit faster since the big levels are coming up and OEBD is on the horizon.

I think Bell and Ais will train together finally after the wargame (more to sort out their own feelings for each other with what happened at the end of volume 17) since Freya might use her favor to null that training session since she knows Ais is the source of Bells power and wants to keep him low (emotionally) for wargame. Makes sense to considering Hedin saw what Ais actually does for Bell first hand at the end of volume 17.

@IkariSon

I completely get where you are coming from and I may not have explained myself too well either. I'm not saying that Bell will be alone in the fight against Allen, Hogni and the brothers, Bell would most like be fighting along side Ais, Tiona, Tione, Bete and maybe Lefiya. And in regards to Ottar, I'm counting on Finn, Gareth and Riveria to contain and wear him down. All this along side with the new abilities/skills he might get and the other things i stated earlier might be enough to will the war game.

in fact, even a level 7 Bell has no guarantee of victory as long as Ottar has a skill that makes him level 8 and magic that was strong enough to finish off Zard

Even if I always thought Ottar had been created to be Bell's feat for level 7 and even if I think this is too early, Ottar having a skill making him a level 8 doesn't change anything, a level 4 Bell supposedly have a level 6 status/power, it wouldn't be too far fetched to think a level 6 Bell would easily have a high level 8 power by then.

Bell leveling up two times before/during the wargame seems a bit too much honestly, because it goes directly against something Omori said (that has been bothering me for a long time now) that Bell is going too fast, there should only be 4-5 months left before the one year deadline for the story to take place so I really did not think Bell was going too fast (he is compared to the others, but with a skill like Realis Phrase it felt kind of slow).

Bell might just get his level up, get to S+ stats by the end of the wargame if he fights everyone, and level 6 will probably be left for Ais' arc since it would mean reaching her level (technically being as strong as her) and thus being "worthy" of standing by her side0

when we talk about Bell and Ottar, actually defining their strength only in terms of levels will not be completely correct, since both of them have insane stats. the difference in levels can be overcome thanks to the stats - this is a fact proven by Lefiya. it's just that the difference in stats is usually not that big, and occurs mostly between warriors and mages, but Ottar's insane stats are a serious bet to rival even warriors whose level is higher than him, since he has reached the stat cap of 7 levels in a row. therefore, it will be easier to calculate dry stats here. for Bella high lvl 6, this is about 6600 points in all stats and about 8000 in agility. for Ottar it's about 7000 to all stats + buff per lvl. i.e., Ottar easily outperforms Bell in everything except agility (this is even obvious, since aside from agility, Bell's stats have gone only a little further than the limit that Ottar reached). As far as agility is concerned, here Bell is in the lead. explanation: Bell had about 2600 agility points, and Hyacinth had about 1500 points + buff for lvl 3, and still Hyacinth was much slower than Bell, so much so that his advantage in Strength and Dexterity did not help him, and he was against Bell almost helpless. it follows that the difference in levels gives much less than 1000 points. so here, with Bell's 8000 points versus Ottar's 7000 points, Bell will be noticeably faster. although against such a difference in Strength, Dexterity, experience and technology, it is useless. and Ottar is still not forced to use his skill, which makes him equal in speed to Bell or even faster, and the difference in other stats is further exacerbated.

Bell wins

A draw is not possible, since Ottar is literally saying he won't let Bell save Freya without defeating him. And at some point Bell would have to face the current mightiest and this seems to be the only moment when it can actually leave a mark in the story. Any other time it will be: okay Bell, become the mightiest so we can move on.

No way it's going to be 1 v 1 though. Most likely Aiz and Bell vs Ottar