All of Vena Dis' magic is pretty awesome and OP especially the one where she sets fire to whatever she deems a heresy, Bache's magic is pretty cool too.
Zald and Alfia should have leveled up to 8 after those fights...Omori apparently didn't think about that when he made it so that they destroyed the behemoth and leviathan.
It would of made more sense for the level 8 and 9 to get the kills but he probably wanted to make Zald and Alfia more impressive enemies when they switched sides during the Dark era. He probably didnt even think about that they should of got a level up for killing the beasts until after he already worked it into the story. Not his first time where his story telling is inconsistent with the rules of his world.
Im a little confused by your position. Mainly because you reference something Omori said about Ais in regards to PvM (monsters), not PvP. Omori's statement has no bearing on PvP, quite the opposite, after making that statement Omori has actually made it a point to make Ais weaker when it comes to PvP (compared to her fellow level 6's) because she doesnt have the same mindset and holds back against people. Bete on the other hand does not and goes all out. Ais is getting better though in her PvP because she trained with Ottar, doesnt mean she has the same killer instinct as some of the others and wont still hold back. The mentality of a character and how they fight does plays a big factor in pvp.
Also, when Omori made that statement he hadn't yet given Bete the Hati ability. We have to consider that Omori actuallly doesnt have the finer details of his whole story laid out yet. He knows where he wants to go at the end of the story but the road to get there he hasnt completely figured out and we've seen that as the story has been fleshed out more that some of the things he said earler can now be taken with a grain of salt. For instance Omori claimes Ais was the best swordsmen in Orario. Well we got Hogni now, a top tier level 6 with the swordsmen DA at G and another DA called Flash Cut (sounds sword related to me). Conclusion: Omori's statement then was true at the time, but as he told the story he went he added new layers to his story to where what he said then is no longer true with the current state of what his world is now. So we cant hold past statements that Omori has said to be true, when contextually He has added new content and changed the original narrative.
As far as your reasons for beating Bete, hey I agree with you those are good points on why Ais can come out on top. I even said in my original comment that 2-10 is very interchangeable between who you put in what order. Ill actually change that to 2-6 is very interchangeable between the top 6's and then 7-10 between the lower 6's and Bell. So even though I rated Bete higher than Ais (rated as far as overall PvP ability), im not saying he would beat her 10 out of 10 times. But I still think he overmatches Ais hands down in a 1v1.
Its true that hati has a long chant but if Bete is able to get Hati then Ais is done. She has no defense for Hati, any further activations of Ariel would increase its power, she cant defend against with mere swordplay, and she doesnt have the speed without Ariel to avoid Bete (so she cant wait for it to dissipate) and she chant take a direct hit from it. One hit from Hati and shes done. Basically once Ariel has been taken from her its over.
Now lets look at the flip side if Bete cant get hati off, Bete actually fights predominantly with his feet which he wears his mithril boots. His boots enable him to defend and counter Ariel, maybe not a full 100 percent but he still has defense and the ability to counter with offense. Bete has the speed to Match Ais with Ariel and he has stronger attack power than her when going head to head trading blows. Added to that Bete has magic resistance so he resists the damage Ariel can do.
All in all Bete has the ability, the methods and the equipment to hold out against Ais long enough, for her to tire out from overusing Ariel (mana dries up eventually even with Spirit Healing) not to mention Bete doesnt hold back when he fights and doesnt hesitate against his opponents. That being said I really hate to sound like im a total Bete fan because that is actually an unbiased opinion considering both characters strengths and weaknesses. Bete just overmatches Ais on every level and other than the long chant for Hati he doesnt have any weakness but thats okay cuz he doesnt need Hati to depend on in a fight and it is just a great trump card against those that are magic dependent.
In regards to Finn being number 2, im with ya again on the interchangeability between 2-6. Finn could easily be number 2, he could...but i dont think so.
Hell Finnegas does give him a lvl 7 prowess true, but it doesnt give him stats comparable to Ottar as a lvl7 ( i know you didnt say this, im just saying this to make a contrast to what type of level 7 Finn will be under its effects). So under Hell Finnegas with level 7 prowess Finns stats will still be all 0. He would be like a brand new 7, the increase in power would be significant but it wouldn't be like it was undefendable.
Lets look at Allen and Hogni, Allen and Hogni are no strangers in seeing what a level 7 can do, they are used to seeing the power Ottar after all and have fought him on occasion. So the power output alone would not catch them off guard or it wouldnt be something that they arent at least prepared to offer some sort of defense against. Infact lets say Finn used Hell Finnegas and Allen used his magic and they went head to head both using their strongest attacks who would win?
Well when Allen was going to use his magic against Ottar it was something so strong that Ottar needed to devote his full efforts towards defense in order for him not to be killed, and again Ottar is a maxed out 7 with the best defense. In a head to head using their best abilities Allen beats Finn. Not as one sided as Bete vs Ais but probably 6 out of 10 times.
Lets look at Hogni, Hogni actually has quick chant aoe explosion magic with the Mage DA. Remember this was the only attack that was able to Hit Ottar when they fought him. It has great versality with a wide range where Finn would not be able to rashly attack Hogni even under the effects of Hell Finnegas, only problem is Hell Finnegas has a draw back in that it reduces his judgement and he will more likely attack Hogni rashly exposing himself to feints and counter magic and Finn doesn't have the endurance that Ottar has to take big hits from Hogni's magic. I think Hell Finnegas puts him at greater risk against Hogni.
I think its a mistake to look at Finn using Hell Finnegas against Argana as sometype of benchmark to compare to what would happen to Hogni or Allen. We dont know Argana's stats but she wasnt that much stronger than Tione (a brand new 6 at the time). Argana clearly isnt at the level of Hogni, Allen or even Finn for that matter but she also had no knowledge of Finn's true strength, Hogni and Allen aren't ignorant of Finn's abilities and they are more versed in PvP than Finn (not saying Finn doesnt have dueling skills because he does, just not as much as Hogni and Allen).
All that being said they are very close fights between them and it could go either way but I think the nod goes to the Freya Familia members, but that's also going alongside with what Omori created them to be.
I Appreciate your return comment if you have one Rigel.
Allens Magic greatly increases his speed, the magic itself might also increase his Atk power, but then he also probably has a passive skill where his speed increases his atk power, so the spell scales very well with his kit. Combine that with the potential DA spearman, his damage output is insanely strong so much that Ottar respects it.
Those of course are added assumptions about his other abilities, but regardless Ottar respects it and he is a maxed End level 7 with the Strong Body DA at level G. That says something about its power.
My list
1 - Ottar
2 - Hogni
3 - Allen
4 - Finn
5 - Hedin
6 - Gareth
7 - Bete
8 - Bell
9 - Ryu
10 - Ais
Honorable Mention Argana, Bache, Tione, Tiona and the Gullivers
I don't see what the big fuss is about, pretty much 2-10 is largely interchangeable on how you can rate them (even with those I put in honorable mention). A lot of who wins will depend on how they match up against a certain opponent. For instance Ais is a bad matchup against Bete because she depends too much on her wind and Bete's Hati will eat it up. Ais is actually a great matchup against Bell, Her Ariel increases her speed, gives her added offense and defense. She can use it to protect herself from his quick cast firebolt but then also keep the pressure on and not let him charge up argonaut.
Bell is still a better at all around Pvp. He just has a bad matchup against Ais, but he has a better chance against Bete than he would Ais (and I rate Bete higher than Bell and Ais).
These are just examples of how not just PVP ability (skills, magic, stats, DA's, technique, experience) matters, but how you matchup against a certain opponents.