@Leinad91

Pay attention to the situation happening during that scene. It doesn’t make sense if Syr said “I will make sure Ottar and others are ready” in that situation. An emergency has occurred so Syr would go inform Freya Familia members right away. Ottar was still deep in the dungeon and so Syr said “Hedin and others” referring to those she can contact immediately.

Also, what do you mean Ottar was further up than Raul and others? Ottar was seen staying behind fighting to help Raul and others escape so there’s no way he would be back on surface earlier than them.

Ottar was shown staying behind to help raul and others? i see. interesting. regardless, if syr orders it, there is no doubt that ottar will help. and there is no reason for syr to not order it. once they learn of the situation on the surface, it would be obvious that rescuing aiz is equally important because otherwise there would be an entire harem of aiz clones that would take out all competition(jk. jk. i mean that aiz clones could destroy tiona and tione in mere seconds so taking them out is kinda important. and thank you @Leinad91

@AP24

Your reasoning would make sense if the Freya Familia had taken action immediately. In that case, obviously Syr could only count on those who were present. However, that wasn’t the case: it was the Ganesha Familia that rushed in to cover the retreat of the expedition party, while the Freya Familia did nothing to handle the immediate emergency.

Therefore, it’s clear that Syr’s “I’ll make sure Hedin and the others are ready” was not referring to the immediate emergency but to the future plans for the counterattack in the dungeon. And since these were future plans, she could have perfectly included Ottar in them if he were going to be part of it, regardless of where he was at the time of the conversation.

Moreover, with that point clarified, Ottar’s location becomes irrelevant for the negotiation. However, I want to point out that the volume isn’t clear about whether Ottar was actually on floor 49 covering the retreat. There is a brief line that seems to suggest it, but it doesn’t mention him by name, so it remains ambiguous.

Personally, I don’t see much sense in him still being there. What would he stay behind for on floor 49 once the group left it? Logically, he should have withdrawn with them, escorting them. And if he had done that, the group wouldn’t have suffered so many casualties on the way back, which leads me to believe he wasn’t there.

The only possibility is that Balor hadn’t reappeared yet and Ottar was waiting for him. But with so much uncertainty about the timing of Balor’s reappearance, no one would know when he would return or in what state. So this would only be another reason not to count on Ottar for the rescue mission.

@Pluton9

The defeat of the Loki Familia is significant, as it is their first strategic defeat in the entire series. Before this, they had suffered tactical defeats, like when they lost seven men in their first incursion into Knossos or when they had to retreat from the first major assault on that place, but they had never ended up in such a precarious situation where the familia could lose its status as the strongest in the city due to the potential losses they might suffer. That’s why I would focus more on the magnitude of the defeat rather than on the number of victories won against the corrupted spirit.

We are entering the realm of speculation, but if I had to bet, I would say that it will be the Loki Familia that will ultimately be the one to defeat it. It would be absurd that after 16 volumes dealing with it and with a rivalry that has already become personal, it would be the Freya Familia that ends up defeating it. It may be a matter of taste, but to me that would be a ridiculous plot twist, considering all the development the conflict between the Loki Familia and the corrupted spirit has had.

Moving on to the next topic, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s too soon to say who will be the commander-in-chief of the expedition. There could be a clash of egos and divergent personal motivations that would undermine the group’s cohesion. What I can say for sure is that Bell will not, under any circumstances, accept any strategy that involves weighing Ais’s life against that of others to make decisions based on that, because he is going specifically for her, and for him, her life is the absolute priority.

Lastly, yes, it has been said many times that the Freya Familia must protect Bell because, if he dies, Freya would follow him. This is the kind of idea that sounds spectacular, but when put into practice, is unrealistic. This is a shōnen: Bell is the protagonist, so there is no way to prevent him from facing mortal danger, or the story would be boring. In fact, Ottar himself has put him in mortal danger more than once, such as when he sent him against the minotaur while he was still just a level 1 or when he sent him to face Asterius, preventing him from getting any help in both cases. Do you have any example of the Freya Familia directly preventing Bell from facing danger out of fear that he might die? If not, I don’t see why this time would be the exception.

P.S.: I see you didn’t mention the original topic of the debate about Haruhime’s participation in the fight. From this, I assume you’re already taking for granted that she will go, but I have a question: with the Freya Familia being so arrogant, to the point of thinking they could defeat all of Orario, and even getting offended because Freya left Ais out, thinking it was a slight against them, would they really be willing to admit that they cannot defeat an enemy and need the level boost? I think not; in other words, I think they would rather go without her.

It was straight up mentioned in the volume if am not wrong that balor had respawned and SO15 was basically confirmation that Ottar already soloed it.

@Leinad91

It was never a rivalry the Corrupted Spirit only target was Ais, Loki Familia itself as more a problem her associate Enyo, the game has always been would she caught Ais or would their protect her till the end & we see it result in a failure, the game is over end they have lose, that Rivalry has always been onsided exactly like Bell & Lefiya, from the start the Corrupted Spirit doesn't care & has never cared about them. Plus it don't change my statment Loki Familia don't win after a lose they let someone else to the job. Also considering the nature of the Corrupted Spirit, Loki familia isn't adequat for the win even less Lefiya.

The fact is, Bell has no right to say anything about it; he's not a strategist & if he ever complied or doesn't abid to the order, he won't even be allowed to participate in the operation (you know how strict Hedin is). The only time Bell would have the freedom to act on his own terms would be when he's already in front of the Corrupted Spirit or when command is delegated to Lili. Plus you made a little mistake Bell don't make choice he won't come just to save ais above the life of everyone else, Bell will to try to save them all, Bell is on the side of this point has been made clear since MS 12.

Remember that in the early volume Freya made clear she doesn't care if Bell died ? Because but that point has since been reversed, the narration in MS 17 even pointed of this order was a switch in behavior contradicting her OG statment so avoid using Ottar test in the earlier book when at that time none of Freya Familia had the mission to protect Bell, Beside what arrogance ? Don't you remember that Hedin is more level headed than the rest of Freya familia ? Not only that but 1 of their excutive is trapped ther & their 3 other familia Member who were selected Hedin himself have died ! In addition they have already got defeated in MS18 & are still for punished it you can hardly find a better humbly process than Mia's fist. Avoid those nonsensically excuses who completly forget the situation has radically changed since MS 1.

Why even ask about Haruhime participation ? let me remind you if you don't remember that Haruhime is the member of the Hestia Familia with the record for the lowest floor reached which is the 45th when she was still level 1, she is already experienced in this area and in addition her goliath robe is a more than sufficient defense in addition she will go for the same reason that she will be there for OEBD, the reality is that the more Omori put her & Hestia in situation logically familia above their levels the more it serves as proof by example to justify this decision.

I cannot comment on this particular discussion anymore since it seems to be going in a weird direction, I would like to clarify that haruhime was mostly carried inside a box and did not seem to have much knowledge about anything related to the dungeon when she started out.

I talked about the experience of being a protected luggage not the dungeon experience as adventurer, Haruhime is simply unable to protect herself so starting from this base thinking she could do that in a area where she is drastically under level without having guard at close proximity sound like the beggining of a bad joke.

@Aniran96 , what is mentioned in the volume is that Balor was about to reappear and that this could happen during the expedition; when they reach floor 49, they see the ashes of the fomoires and Finn smiles, thinking that Ottar has already finished his warm-up, but at no point does it explicitly say that the battle has already taken place.

Later, during the retreat, when Raul and company pass through floor 49, there is a line that seems to suggest that Ottar is still on this floor and that he covered them, but the line is vague and does not mention Ottar by name, so there is some doubt. If he is still there, it could only be because he is still waiting for Balor to reappear.

So, Omori —true to his style— omits key information, so it is unclear whether the battle has already taken place or not, or where Ottar is during the events described.

I hope Ais doesn’t die because she is the reason of Bell’s existence as a hero and adventurer.

If something happens to Ais Bell will break into small pieces.