I think we have already said that it was not a question of combat strength, but moral and fortitude. Hogni is extremely weak in this regard, it makes perfect sense to give the post to Allen, who is trying his best to protect his sister.
Anya didn't really help much in the battle, Hogni saved her most of the time by blocking Allen's spear over and over again. And actually, Anya was shaken there the most & she lacked synch, which is also a minus. At one point, Hogni could have hurt Allen badly with his magic, but he didn't (Allen barely dodged, but wouldn't have been able to if Hogni had also started to shorten his distance with him). In general his condition was so terrible that even with the support in the form of Anya, they still should have lost to Allen even when he didn't use his magic, but he kept holding on.
But I repeat, what makes you think they are equal? Bell was running away, but later turned around and ran straight at Ottar, if he had the opportunity to charge the argonaut further he would have taken it, but since he didn't, it was most likely because Ottar was catching up to him. And Ottar's absolute defense in that case wouldn't have been able to withstand the force of a full Argonaut (unless he was using his own magic).
Hogni has a much better status thanks to falna. He has a new magic through which he frees himself from mental limitations by summoning his strongest personality. Also thanks to falna, he can use his cursed sword ability much more often. He also has a handy blast magic that creates a smoke screen that can be combined with his cursed sword property. His close combat has already been stated several times to be superior to Hedin even without falna. If that's not an advantage he got thanks to falna, I don't know what is.
It might make sense, but Bell noticed the wounds under the Gulliver brothers' armor, but didn't say anything about Hedin's condition (other than the wounds on his face, but it was also said that he took the first attack on himself). The fact that he came out of the fight against Allen and the Gulliver brothers in pretty good condition, managing to wound the latter, is already a good achievement considering how angry they were.
Allen was still level 6, with skills and DA, albeit weakened. But Hogni's condition...
He couldn't use the extension of his sword, due to his lack of endurance. At the beginning of the fight, he didn't use his strongest personality that reveals his potential. His reaction speed also decreased in the fight against Ryu, and then it got even worse when he got hit by an AA and was knocked out. Hell, Hogni was so weakened that a first-class adventurer could have easily dodged his blow. And when Hedin hit him, he almost passed out. If Allen couldn't beat Hogni like that, I don't see how he'll fight against Hogni using Dainsleif at full power.
Bell is faster because he was faster? I asked for a reason. Just because Ottar is a fighter doesn't stop him from having S rank speed (989) and moving so fast that level 6 and unable to follow his movements. Even a few seconds' head start for a first-class adventurer is enough to break away by a considerable fortune, Mia and Ryu had bought enough time that Ottar couldn't quickly shorten the distance. I don't think Mia and Ryu would even get in Ottar's way and waste endurance if Bell was fast enough to run away from Ottar. And you're still forgetting how wounded he was and how heavy a sword he was carrying.
They were only labeled as equal opponents before receiving falna. If Allen was always stronger than Hedin, why was he shocked to find out that Hedin thought he was weaker at the time? Are you also surprised by the fact that you are stronger than someone you've already defeated many times? If this is true, why did Hedin come out with minor facial wounds after his fight with Allen & Gulliver, when he should have been beaten? Allen couldn't defeat a very wounded Hogni (without using magic) who was deprived of one of his main abilities, so I highly doubt he can defeat Hogni when they are both at full strength (Allen was also weakened, but to a much lesser extent)
Well, now that you've admitted that combat skills can make up for the difference in speed, I think it's clearer why I think Hogni is stronger. Why do you think Ottar wouldn't have caught up? Extremely wounded Ottar with the skill and his huge sword could catch up with Bell, so he needed Mia and Ryu's help to hold Ottar off. I think a healthy Ottar without skill use and sword has a good chance of catching up to Bell.
I remember one person made a post in which he translated a snippet of Zard clashing with Allen and Allen not having time to put up his spear for defense. Maybe we should ask the admins how it was in the original version? Because the fact that Allen manages to defend himself despite further screaming that he didn't understand anything looks extremely odd to me..
Cursed weapon takes your physical power when you use its lengthening ability, not when you just attack. And it actually took a bunch of adventurers, two of which were level 6, and a kill ban to make Hogni completely tired. I don't think Allen is capable of achieving the same result on his own. In the battle that took place in AR, it was Ottar who decided who would lose first. Whoever he attacks obviously can't withstand his power and the main reason here is not endurance at all. Also, if I'm not mistaken, Hogni said that he lost to Ottar and Allen, not to any individual, implying that he was fighting against two.
He dodged only one attack, as I said, and then Ottar used his combat skills to immediately corner Bell again. And why do you think Allen is faster than Ottar in his base state and not using magic? In Episode Freya, Ottar doesn't defend himself seriously, but easily blocks all of Allen's attacks, even managing to grab his spear. Honestly, if Allen was really that fast, he would most likely be able to give Ottar a good fight on his own as well, but as we've seen that hasn't happened. And he's also not capable of surpassing level 5-6 reaction speed like Ottar does.
Yes, but we're talking about his base state, where he's never once demonstrated anything like that as when he uses magic. And yet, if his movement speed is superior to Ottar's using the skill, why couldn't he move his spear to block Zard's attack? Ottar who was badly injured, but still kept blocking the attacks of the more serious Zard (in their brief confrontation, I think it's obvious that Zard was less serious than when fighting Ottar). And I doubt it's possible to run beyond your own reaction speed. If it were, Allen would have to slow down all the time to adjust his movements in the right directions.
Yes, but combat skills allow you to hit that target. Van wasn't so helpless that he couldn't even hit Bell despite the huge speed gap between them. Also Kaguya almost finished off a higher level Vito thanks to technique. Even Gullivers brothers could react and block Allen's attacks, I see no reason why Hogni couldn't. He also has a special sword that can extend and reach enemies at a distance.
Why would you say that? Ottar managed to block all incoming attacks and as indicated, it was a mistake to get on defense, not because Bell has superior speed, but because Hedin's magic has a penetrating effect and even though he covered himself with his sword, he took damage. Right after that, Ottar using his fighting skills, corners Bell and in a couple blows, Bell's body starts hurting again.
do you think Allen's reaction speed is inferior to his running speed (which should be impossible)?
«Combat technic & close stat aren't the only factor to decide a fight their respective race, magics, DA & skill also play their part. As for the fight to put it simply Hogni has the stronger attack but Allen run faster than a level 8 without using his magic.»
I doubt Allen will have high physical strength given his race. Hogni has 3 skills and one undiscovered magic. I think we've already been shown that combat skills can compensate for the difference in speed, so I don't think Allen's case will be special.
And to be honest, I don't recall Allen moving faster than level 8 without using magic. In that case he would have to surpass level 5 and 6 reaction speed like Ottar did using his skill, no? In AR Zard was able to surpass Allen's reaction speed, but couldn't do it to Ottar.
«Plus Hongi isn't even the 2nd strongest of Freya Familia that seat belong to Allen.»
Why? I thought the LN said several times how strong Hogni is in close combat, saying that his combat skills rival Ottar's. He also has high strength (S - 969) and high speed (A - 887).
Destroying behemoth with a single punch is indeed a great power and he would have a chance to defeat his captain, who was considered the strongest adventurer in the world. He's so far the only adventurer I know who has managed to scare Allen and even Ottar
In this case, the zald is not much different from the monsters we are used to seeing, but the zald could still scare him. So he's not that brave, Allen was afraid too.
As far as I know, Ottar experienced fear in his battle with Zald.
He was emotionally unstable at that point. As we know, after his encounter with Ais, he performed much better against Hedin (before he was easily beaten, but then he was able to inflict a scratch). Bell can use Argonaut even against stronger opponents thanks to tactics, such as in the battle with Juggernaut. You don't have to charge him fully, boosting his jerk or increasing the power of his magic will be enough to severely weaken Tsubaki and deal unexpected blows. Of course, everyone knows about his magic, but what does that change? All he has to do is stretch out his arm and quickly cast his spell and he can do it constantly at any point in the fight.
High stats, fast and strong magic, argonaut
@BitterBitterSweet I think that Bell is stronger than Tsubaki after volume 18.