It was an old bell. It doesn’t stink like I thought it would, and it doesn’t have any stains that would indicate it is dirty. It is just an old bell that seems to look more ancient than most things called ancient in this world.

Picking it up, despite the looks that seemed to indicate it was a bronze bell, it looked like it wasn’t that heavy. I wasn’t even expecting it to be...this light. And bronze bells are not this light to begin with.

"Wielder, this bell is strange. For some reason, it felt like this was a very magical piece of artifact we stumbled upon."

"Hmmm," I caress the rough exterior of the bell and admit, this bell has the feel of something magical hidden in it. It is indeed like hiding more than what meets the eye.

I put the bell in my inventory after I heard some howls in the distance.

"With that stinky guy gone, it should be safe to assume that we can go back to that place without the need to worry about enemies I guess?" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Wouldn’t hurt to try going back there, wielder. Your choice."

"Yeah, I think we should go back there. Besides, I feel icky after the battle of that monster. I feel like even though the smell has disappeared, it seems the feeling has not left my clothes and body."

With no more monsters in the vicinity, I left with the bell in my inventory and returned to the hotel to wash up on my body and get myself a thorough scrubbing.

...

...

When I returned, I had to move to the higher floors of the building to find a good place to stay after our battle with the stinky monster. With all the windows on the bottom floor destroyed during the battle, only the windows from the upper areas remained intact. And despite the area already missing the area’s boss, it seems the monsters still can feel or still have lingering fears about the place as they don’t dare to get close compared to the cathedral where Excalibur was placed.

Still, I wasn’t expecting this hotel to be this big and have lots of rooms. Perhaps the people who once lived here in Agartha love to stay in places like this? Or maybe they regularly rent this place, keeping it occupied compared to most hotels I have known in my life? As much as my questions remain unanswered, there is no way I can know those things.

Thankfully, after checking the water and confirming it was safe and clean, I started to thoroughly clean my body. I have soap in my inventory to also remove whatever smells remain in my body as well.

As for the armor, I have to also clean up the whole thing as well for a bit before I managed to finally get the whole damn smell and mess sorted out. I also donned new armor and clothes as well so I am now fresh and good to go.

After feeling refreshed, I opened my inventory and checked the bell once more, inspecting it now that I was in the safe place with my Devourer.

"You don’t recognize any sort of relic that looks like this?" I asked the Shadow Dragon.

"No. If I have, I would have remembered if even just like this is enough for me to feel some sort of calm connection."

"Calm connection eh?" I took a glance at the engravings and although they are faded they seemed to have disappeared due to the passage of time with the wear and tear texture.

Since even the Shadow Dragon has no idea what this thing is, I decided to check the description this time around. Although I no longer keep on looking at the description and stat panels anymore, this does have some useful stuff to see from time to time and now that no one else knows what this is, might as well check the system and see what it says.

----

[Bell of Cleansing][Broken]

Type: Relic

Info: An unknown relic that seems to exist even before the primordial times and seems to have originated back when the gods had not yet ascended and the two goddesses had yet to even be born.

Usage: Although not thoroughly tested, it was said that this bell is a tool to recall the soul of a living being that was forcefully removed by any means, like magic or a curse. Undoes the effects of those spells and curses and recalls the spirits to where they should properly belong. Due to its current state, the effects can only be triggered one at a time, but thankfully, it won’t be destroyed after use and will undergo a short cooldown before it can be used again. However, if it was restored to its former glory, new effects might also be granted as well.

-----

I was surprised and I was also in shock. The item that Almira was looking for is this item right here. Although it was in the state that it was broken, the effects remained unchanged except that it has limits, but the limits are not as bad as they sound.

"Well? What does it do, wielder? You seemed to be in awe and shock at the same time?"

"I am more surprised that we struck gold getting this thing. And we didn’t even seek this one out. I was expecting it to be some sort of hidden artifact that I needed to find, but after getting it, I wished I had defeated that monster earlier much faster if I had known it would drop this bell after its death," I exclaimed as I keep on caressing the marking of the bell.

"Huh? Is it that useful?" the shadow dragon asked.

"Not just useful, this is one of the things we needed to get while we are here in Agartha. Remember the thing that Almira wanted me to get here but does not know the name or whatever it was? Well, now I know since that thing was this bell all along. It has the ability to return the soul of anyone who had their souls forcefully removed. I overheard the explanation of Almira back then about the source of their death. With this thing here, we can now finally bring back everyone."

"I see. But to think a monster like that harbors this thing, isn’t that kind of questionable? How come it has this thing in the first place?" the shadow dragon is asking the real questions but I don’t have the definitive answer to those.

"Well, I don’t have any answer to that. But I guess this bell has always been in this place and that monster just happened to devour it. Might be also the main reason this thing is broken."

"Broken? Then that means we can’t use it?"

"No, it still functions just fine, the only bad thing is that it has limited effects, and using it will cause this thing to enter in a cooldown. We either need to find someone who can repair this thing or just use it as is. Of course, repairing this would be already a big thing but we can do just fine without doing so."

"You are not confident in repairing this thing?" the shadow dragon asked.

"Nope. Although I am at the point where I mastered most stuff being taught to me by Almira, I don’t have the capabilities to repair this and let it return to its former glory. As for Almira, I don’t have a clue, but I can at least try to ask."

"How about the Ancient Blacksmith? That old man might be a little absent-minded at times but his smithing skills are a legit thing and with the fact that he can create and repair relics, it also means this bell we have in here can also be repaired by him."

Tojiro huh? Yeah, he could work indeed. If Almira can’t repair it, then that guy is the only candidate to restore this thing. And knowing him, I can already see him asking me a good price as we restore this bell to its former glory.

"We can make that matter a problem once we are back to the surface. For now, let’s review our objectives once again. With the bell of cleansing in our hands and the Excalibur secured, that only means we have one more thing we need to find."

"It was called the Rhongomyniad, right? You also needed it to complete one of the skills that has been incomplete since the very beginning." the shadow dragon reminded me.

"Indeed. The [Incomplete Rhongomyniad]."

"If the incomplete version of that weapon is already a beast on its own, what does the real deal do even?"

That is something I don’t have any idea. However, we will do it and retrieve that thing.

"The final task while we are in Agartha, secure the Rhongomyniad and survive. Next, return to the surface and prepare for the final confrontation. We will try putting down the goddess of life once more, but this time, for good."