Danmachi: Is It Wrong to Be the Main Character in Orario?

"Graaaah!"

A roaring Minotaur charged at Bell, flailing wildly.

Slash!

With a flash of his blade, the two-meter-tall beast was cleaved cleanly from head to toe, blood splattering across the ground.

Bell silently drew a conclusion.

'The frenzy effect is lacking.'

'Monsters in a frenzy tend to act more recklessly. The state lasts too long and completely removes any control over their behavior.'

After several experiments, Bell abandoned the idea of inducing frenzy in monsters.

Sure, they became more aggressive—but all it did was increase their attack frequency within the bounds of their current level. There was no explosive leap in strength.

He called over another Minotaur and restrained it using Runes. Then he activated a different set of Runes to "ripen" its life force, forcibly compressing it to maximize its potential for a temporary boost in power.

"MOOOOO!!!"

The Minotaur's entire body turned a deep crimson. Even its fur and horns began to mutate.

"Hm. Its aura's gotten a lot stronger—close to the peak of Lv.2."

While it hadn't broken into Lv.3, the experiment confirmed this method worked.

By "ripening" a monster—artificially pushing its life force to the limit—he could enhance its strength temporarily.

"Wait a second... this Minotaur looks familiar."

Crimson fur, blood-red horns… wasn't this the one from the original story? The one fans affectionately called the "Minotaur Waifu"?

Bell raised an eyebrow.

The Dungeon incorporated the concept of reincarnation. And reincarnated beings could retain memories of their past battles with humans. The newly born lifeforms had monster appearances but human-like intelligence.

These beings were known in the Dungeon as "Xenos."

They were hated by both Adventurers and the monsters of the lower floors.

'Reincarnation, huh?'

'So monsters have souls... and the Dungeon recycles them into the bodies of newborn monsters.'

Bell rubbed his chin, deep in thought.

'This is going to be a problem.'

Monsters he'd killed reappearing before him as Xenos—just imagining that was enough to make him groan internally.

To avoid that, Bell etched three Runes into his blade.

At that moment, his perception slowed—time itself seemed to freeze.

Secret Sword—

In that near-stillness, Bell swung his sword.

The first strike was his foundation.

The second was his breakthrough.

—Tsubame Gaeshi!

A cross-shaped slash tore through the air, bending the rules of time and space. It looked as if two blades struck at once, slicing the crimson mutant Minotaur cleanly in half.

This marked another leap forward in Bell's technique.

Before, all he could manage was a single perfected swing, timed within distorted space and time.

That was the beginning of Tsubame Gaeshi—only possible after he'd embraced the life and resolve of a true swordsman.

But the second strike? That had come just days ago, born out of desperation and an overwhelming hunger for power.

It was that desire that pushed his technique to new heights.

Understanding this, Bell didn't suppress his craving for strength—but he did place boundaries on his own ambition.

Unrestrained desire wasn't the path to progress. It was the root of arrogance... and ruin.

"Moo!"

The red-colored Minotaur didn't die immediately, but it had already lost its most crucial part—its color faded completely.

Bell gave a slight nod at the sight.

'A key fragment of its soul has collapsed.'

'A soul in this state can no longer be reborn as a Xenos.'

Moments later, the mutated Minotaur's life slipped away. Bell stepped forward and extracted the Magic Stone from its body.

As the stone was removed, the corpse crumbled into a pile of white ash. But amidst the pale remains, its vivid red horns stood out starkly.

He collected the horns into his four-dimensional storage, then moved on to find the next Minotaur for testing.

After running experiments on forty more, Bell reached a firm conclusion.

Simply compressing a creature's life force to the extreme didn't guarantee peak power. Power still required vitality to be effective—so the life force had to be compressed only to the point where the creature could still function in battle.

In other words, there was an optimal compression threshold.

To draw out the maximum strength from a monster, Bell needed to limit its lifespan just within that peak range.

After countless trials and refinements, he finally succeeded.

He created a Minotaur whose entire hide had turned a vivid red, its eyes filled with nothing but the will to kill.

This one wasn't Lv.2.

It was Lv.3.

A full evolutionary leap beyond the original species' limits—this Minotaur had become a higher-tier monster.

Bell smiled, satisfied.

"Success."

That one word gave all his efforts the validation he'd hoped for.

"MOOO!!!"

The mutated Minotaur bellowed in fury. Cracks began to form in the restraints binding its body.

Bell wasn't surprised in the slightest.

"As expected, there's a fundamental difference between Lv.2 and Lv.3."

The way this one struggled made it obvious.

Even the wildest Lv.2 Minotaur couldn't break free from his bindings—but a Lv.3 had the raw power to do so.

"Its fur has hardened into sharp bristles—an innate defense mechanism."

"Its muscle fibers are tighter, tougher. Not only has its defense grown, but so has its attack power. Even its agility and mobility are significantly enhanced."

"A genuine leap in quality."

Bell gave this creation the highest praise.

"But even so... the gap between us hasn't changed."

A cross-shaped blade of light flashed through the air.

The dense, reinforced flesh did nothing to stop Bell's "Kuji Kanesada." In the blink of an eye, the Minotaur's body was torn apart and scattered across the floor. Its life ended on the spot.

Bell once again retrieved the Magic Stone from the remains and collected the 41st horn lying in the ash into his dimensional storage.

'Now it's truly complete.'

From these experiments, he had learned how to push monsters beyond their natural limits.

From the Corrupted Spirit's Fetus, he had discovered a way to control such beings.

With both in hand, he now possessed everything needed for the upcoming expedition.

'Next is to raise my Status to the limit—and during the expedition, find an opportunity to gain Excelia.'