Pretty much, at least we agree that's the case for the max output.

@Jtg1111111 and @Pluton9

Following the narrative timeline (the one of the publications) at the time of SO2's publication, Avenger didn't exist; just look at Ais's status sheet published in SO1 and you'll see that in the skills section there are question marks. It's Omori's way of indicating that Ais has some skill but it's not available at the moment.

What's the point of an author hiding a character's skill if literally in the next publication said skill is already going to be available? Why hide it then?

Many times authors hide skills because the revelation of them will serve for some big plot twist or development, but was it worth hiding Avenger for that effect? ​​This skill consists of a status increase, as are many others such as Ariel herself, so its revelation wouldn't serve to create some big plot around it.

So why did Omori hide it? It can only be because giving Ais 2 gigantic boosts from the beginning of the series wasn't very convenient for the development of the plot, as in the case of the aforementioned battle, if she had used both Ariel and Avenger she would have easily won against Udaeus and to hell with her level increase, but that couldn't be done like that because a level 6 Ais was needed...

Pluton, you say that Ais can activate it unconsciously and that no one can prove that it wasn't like that, but if the ability itself didn't exist yet, much less its characteristics. How can you think that something that was introduced just for SO10 years later is useful to analyze something from SO2?

Proof that such an implication is unfounded was, as I mentioned in the first post on this topic and which in fact jtg111 also mentioned although for some reason he used it to go in the contradictory direction, is that against Asterius the narrator had to expressly tell us that Ais was using Avenger, because by deduction it cannot be assured that this is the case, as you two are doing against Udaeus.

@Leinad91 I said "alluded" she used Avenger in the battle with Udaeus. Ais's emotional state was unstable at the time and her black flames were mentioned after the fight. So, I don't think it is that farfetched to think she may have tapped into Avenger for the power boost when she had that long inner monologue about wanting more power. I honestly don't mind at all if she didn't and I can acknowledge that I may be wrong there, more power to my favorite character in Danmachi if she pulled it off without the skill 😅😅. I'll agree it is a safer assumption to assume she didn't unless Omori states otherwise in the future, I am merely pointing out that he could do so, and it would make sense given Ais's state at the time.

Omori straight up said she unconsciously used Avenger against Asterius in that quote I used, so I don't understand what you are getting at there. I was just pointing out that Avenger has been used in that way before by Ais, nothing more.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Omori didn't reveal her skill until later. Omori has always shrouded Ais in mystery. He already had her history fleshed out before he even started SO, so I assume he already knew what skill she had. Doesn't mean it was "unavailable", but it is possible he simply chose not to narrate it until closer to the full reveal (SO10).

Something I haven't seen brought up yet, I feel like either the Asterius fight has to be after the OEBD battle, or it's before but Bell doesn't kill him. Because the assumption everyone has had was seemingly that Bell wins the fight by killing him, which seems to be what he wants, but also, Asterius would be a major player and incredibly useful ally in the battle against the Dragon, something which Finn already took advantage of during the final battle in SO12.

So I think it's a very strong possibility that the last pre-OEBD arc might be Bell and a party traversing into the Dungeon to track down Asterius to recruit him, and of course needing to actually beat him in a fight in order to do so.

Indeed, I also think Bell won't kill him. The first time was a win, the second time was a lost, and the third will be a draw. It's cliche, but it sounds pretty much like an Omori thing to do. About which level Bell will face Asterius, unless Asterius has become level 8, I think a max stat level 5 Bell is enough to face him. And by enough, I mean having a slight chance of winning despite being a weaker one as usual.

Avenger was heavily discussed in SO9, where it was shown that Ais had had it since her first day as an adventurer, so it wasn't invented just for SO10 lol

For me, I can't imagine the xenos fighting side by side with the adventurers.

the fight against the OEBD will be all the families of Orario proving to the world that needs a hero that they are the salvation.

Especially Bete, just looking at his skills you can see that the fight will last until night.

Lefiya is a character that wouldn't make sense to develop if she wasn't going to participate in the battle.

In addition to many other families.

As for Asterios, I believe that Bell at level 5 will win. In fact, Bell is already the strongest at the moment. I don't know how Aiz or Otar would resist a full 5-minute charge of Argonaut. Asterios only resisted because Bell had little time to recharge.

That's pretty much the issue, everyone Asterius included are aware that Bell has the strongest attack so it's only natural they will not let him the time to reach a full charge & It's not like Bell can do sneak attack with that sound.

"In fact, Bell is already the strongest at the moment. I don't know how Aiz or Otar would resist a full 5-minute charge of Argonaut."

I see someone didn't read Volume 18

"I see someone didn't read Volume 18"

I had forgotten, it's been a while since I read it.

after browsing this site I read something about it