In one of the most emotional scenes from this past season, Bell is put through an emotional rollercoaster when Wiene, the vouivre he had been taking care of, has the gemstone on her head taken by the Ikelos Familia’s main dog, Dix Perdix. Losing all reason, Wiene goes on a rampage in Orario and all the adventurers in town are forced to intervene. Bell tries his hardest to bring Wiene back to her senses, chasing her serpentine form throughout the town and even going as far as interrupting all attempts on her life.

Since the other adventurers have no idea what the true situation is, they assume the Little Rookie is just trying to take her down by himself so he can hog the glory, which only makes them more determined to take her town. It doesn’t help that Bell lays claim to Wiene, saying that the monster is his to kill. A coordinated team of adventurers eventually leads Wiene into the colosseum where she takes a spear to the chest. As Wiene’s life drains before Bell’s eyes, Fels arrives and attempts a magic spell that has never worked before. Lucky for Bell and Wiene, the magic Fels has spent many years trying to perfect and never could does the trick, reviving the little vouivre.

When Bell and the Hestia Familia receive orders from the guild to deliver Wiene the vouivre to her kin, they are met on the 19th floor of the Dungeon by a squadron of hostile monsters. After a short exchange of blows between Bell and Lyd, a powerful, armed lizardman, the adventurers are surprised to hear laughter and human speech emanating from the beast. In fact, most of the monsters present were capable of speech, apologizing for their rough introduction, but also expressing excitement for finally being able to meet Bell and his friends. The monsters introduce themselves as a sentient race of monsters unlike any other in the Dungeon, calling themselves “Xenos”. The revelation that Wiene is just one in a very long line of talking monsters is enough to knock you off your chair!

The main antagonist in this arc is the Ikelos Familia’s commander, Dix Perdix. He enjoys being incredibly cruel to monsters because his actions enable him to overcome the intense voice of his ancestor, Daedalus, who has instilled his will to complete the artificial Dungeon, Knossos, in all of his descendants. Dix is an incredibly adept fighter as a Level 5 adventurer, but he also manages to hold his own against Bell and Lyd, at least until Bell says some heroic words that get the lizardman absolutely pumped up! The decisive blow? A heavy punch from an incensed Bell that sends Dix flying into a wall! Regardless of the season, Bell will always go against opponents stronger than himself and try his best to change the odds!

One of the most exciting parts of the third season of DanMachi is the revival of possibly the greatest fight in the series – Bell vs the minotaur, from way back in season 1! That fight is the reason why the Loki Familia has dubbed Bell “Argonaut”, based on the epic story of Greek hero Jason and his crew members on the Argo. The third season reveals that monsters in the Dungeon experience a cycle of death and rebirth, which if repeated enough times, the accumulation of will and desire over their lifetimes leads to the reincarnation of the monster with sentience, emotions, desires, and the ability to speak.

The minotaur Bell heroically slays in the first season is reincarnated as the minotaur Asterius, which is incidentally the name of two of Jason’s crewmates aboard the Argo, as well as the name of the minotaur in the labyrinth built by Daedalus in Greek myth. Asterius (DanMachi) keeps to himself and spends most of his time training in preparation for the scene he keeps seeing in dreams: himself going head-to-head against a lone human in a battle he describes as “an exchange of wills”. An apt description because as they fight, Bell’s desire to become a hero is what he communicates through his blades. He even uses a greatsword in this battle! Unfortunately for Bell; however, Asterius is much stronger than he was when he was just a mindless beast, so both of them have one win and one loss against the other.

The most epic sequence in DanMachi III has to be the fight between Bell and Ais Wallenstein. Ais disagrees with Bell’s protection of Wiene and the other Xenos, saying that if people are made to cry because of monsters, monsters should fall to her blade. Bell’s determination to protect his new friends enables him to raise his blades against someone who has been both a friend and teacher to him. Bell realises he can’t fight Ais and protect Wiene at the same time, so he uses firebolt to destroy a bridge overhead and briefly escapes. He leads Wiene to a secret passage in town, telling her to go on ahead while he deals with Ais. Wiene leaves but returns to protect Bell from Ais. When Ais tells Wiene that her claws cause injury and her wing brings fear to humans, Wiene performs an incredibly brave act of self-mutilation – tearing off her claws and wing without even thinking twice. Wiene’s actions render Ais unable to kill her, so she gives them a healing crystal and allows them to escape.