Hell Mode: Volume 6, page 10
As per usual, the Adventurer’s Guild staff led them into a spacious room and took possession of all of the items the party intended to trade in before Allen handed the death stage map over to Popokka. The layout had changed, so Allen had drawn up another full map, including the escape routes.
“This is a map of the new Floor 4 death stage. The types of monsters that appear have also changed.”
“I see, thank you.”
“Please be aware that we haven’t checked the other floors yet. I don’t think the layouts have changed, but it’s likely that the monsters spawning there are different.”
Popokka looked over the parchment.
Well, I’ve already done my part. I think we can get going.
“Well, that’s all I have for you today.”
Just as Allen was about to stand and leave, Popokka spoke up.
“Just the other day, our branch received a divine message from the Elmea Church. The priest came to see me personally. Just as you said, things are lookin’ pretty bad.”
Allen would have preferred that they tell Helmios about this stuff once in a while, and said as much. “It was Helmios that provided the information and made these suggestions, you know. I’m merely serving as the middleman.”
“As for your suggestion, the head office of the Adventurer’s Guild provided their formal approval.”
“Oh? Well, congratulations.”
That’s great. It means there’s less work for me to do.
The previous month, Allen had recommended to Popokka, head of the local Adventurer’s Guild branch, that they create a department to collect information from adventurers, analyze it, then provide it back out to all adventurers. He had even created a full proposal outlining the structure of this new organization, the Dungeon Information Group, which he shared when making his recommendation.
The Adventurer’s Guild provided adventurers with a trading service dealing in magic stones, weapons, and armor. But information was far more valuable than expensive equipment, especially in dangerous places like death stages. Good intel was far more likely to save an adventurer’s life than any item. In fact, when the Adventurer’s Guild began to share information about the Rank S dungeon, the death rate dropped ten percent that first month. Allen believed that this could reduce the current fifty percent death rate down to around twenty percent.
Since they still had no idea how the battle with the Demon Lord Army would develop in the future, they needed to nurture those with Talents born in the Mortal Realm—a mere ten percent—in order to build them into a valuable fighting force. It was Allen’s hope that not only the Rank S dungeon, but all the world’s dungeons would also become safe places for adventurers to level up.
However, Allen would be leaving the Rank S dungeon once he cleared it. He could not stick around and continue collecting and analyzing strategic information forever. In order for the Adventurer’s Guild to continue to collect information even after he was gone, they would need to create an independent, permanent organization that would buy intel from adventurers, analyze and summarize it, and then provide it to those who needed it. Allen summarized the outline of the organization and ran some trial calculations in the proposal. He figured that all of this, along with the sense of foreboding from the earlier divine message as well as the results shown here at the Rank S dungeon, had helped lead the Guild Headquarters to approve the request.
“Now, about the point system.”
Huh? He’s still talking?
Allen wanted to hurry home, but since the question was about his own proposal, he had no choice but to answer. “What about it?”
“Um, how should I explain that people will be paid for information on death stages not in money but with points?”
“Hmm. Well, I guess money’s fine too. You could just let the person providing the information choose. However...”
Allen had suggested creating a system wherein points would be given as payment to those who provided information. These points could be exchanged for letters of introduction to nobles, merchants, or other guilds, or even traded in for items to show their status. He was thinking this would be aimed toward adventurers who had already accumulated their wealth in the Rank S dungeon.
Over half of the adventurers challenging the Rank S dungeon left after collecting over ten thousand gold coins. While not enough to live lavishly, with that much money on hand, they would still have a tidy enough nest egg to start on the next stage of their life. What these people who intended to start that next stage needed more than funds was some kind of title, or perhaps a letter of recommendation to start a business. In other words, without those, they would likely run out of money and would either return to adventuring, join a criminal organization, or become a fallen adventurer who created trouble for everyone else.
Allen thus thought up the idea of the global Adventurer’s Guild as an organization that fully supported retiring adventurers who gave useful information that could help out others. If a record was kept of their contributions to the Adventurer’s Guild, that could serve as a great resource to make it easier for nobles and merchants to hire ex-adventurers.
Besides, it was possible to earn money in the Rank S dungeon without selling information in the first place. The premise then was that the Adventurer’s Guild providing personal references would be worth more than money to adventurers, and moreover, the Adventurer’s Guild would not need to spend any money in order to do so. They could keep their outlays down to the cost of writing letters of recommendation, continuing their normal activities all the while.
In addition, the information they obtained could then be sold to adventurers who needed it, serving as a source of income for the guild. This could serve as the salaries for the information group as well as provide enough capital for them to focus on analyzing the information.
“That’s true. I see what you mean.”
Popokka nodded along as the staff member at his side frantically scribbled down Allen’s explanation. On several occasions, the note-taker had to ask Allen to slow down so he could catch up. Apparently this staff member was going to be the head of the information group.
“There aren’t too many people out there who can become the head of an Adventurer’s Guild. In a sense, this can also be a way in which we can continue to support people after they quit being adventurers.”
“However, in that case, that means that you’re the very first person to provide us with information. What would you like as payment? As the branch chief of the one and only Rank S dungeon Guild, I’d like to do whatever I can to grant your request.”
From the look in his eyes, it was clear that Popokka was willing to do just about anything, even if it meant negotiating with the Adventurer’s Guild Headquarters.
“Huh? I’m pretty sure that I already stated that the information and proposal all came from Helmios. Please speak with him about that.”
Allen was only met with silence. It was clear that Popokka did not believe him, as he had already met with Helmios on numerous occasions in his capacity as guild chief. While Helmios was an incredibly strong, intelligent, and kind fellow more than worthy of being called Hero, he was not the type to think up something like this.
Since the guild chief was not saying anything, Allen slowly stood up from his chair and left the room.
“Hey, wait. Are you sure we can’t ask for anything?” Cecil looked disappointed.
“Hmm? Well, we earned ourselves a favor from a worldwide organization. If the time comes when we need it, we can call it in through Helmios later.” The smirk plastered across Allen’s face led Cecil to let out a sigh. “All right, we’ve got all the medals we need, and we’ve finished analyzing all the Rank A monsters. I think it’s about time we make our way to Floor 5.”
Krena clasped her hands together in front of her chest and cheered. “Yeah, it’s about time! Let’s gooo!”
They were finally about to take on the final floor boss lurking on Floor 5. It would be their first attempt since taking on the challenge of the Rank S dungeon back in April of the previous year.
Chapter 8: Challenging the Final Floor Boss
During breakfast back at their base, Allen and Helmios traded notes about what they planned to do with their respective parties.
“Today, we’re going to try to take on the final floor boss,” Allen said.
“It’s a little early, don’t you think?”
“I want to see what it’s like first. We still need to level up Sophie’s skills.”
Though they had spent around ten days trying out Allen’s Rank A Summons, the party still did not quite grasp how to perfectly utilize their skills. Additionally, Sophie’s skill level was still at 6, meaning that her relationships with her spirits were not as close as Allen would have liked.
Even so, not only had they collected all the medals they needed to enter Floor 5, but they also knew that escape was possible if things got too dangerous, as proven by Admiral Garara. Furthermore, if they did somehow manage to take out the final floor boss, they would receive a reward for being the first to complete the dungeon. They would receive a normal reward for defeating the boss as well, so there was merit in fighting it multiple times.
Admiral Garara lay atop the sofa where he was stationed, listening in on their conversation. After taking another swig of his liquor, he let out a loud snort.
“Harrumph.”
“Something on your mind, Admiral?”
“There’s no way the likes of ye would stand a chance against the final boss.”
Wow, those are some big words, coming from him.
“Wha—?! ‘The likes of you’?! Y-You pathetic old man!” Dogora’s face went beet red as he tried to get ahold of the admiral.
“Hey, calm down, Dogora.”
He gets worked up pretty easily. Can’t turn your back on a challenge, can you, big guy?
After somehow managing to calm Dogora down, the party made their way out to the line winding from the temple.
“They must be pretty worried.”
As Allen thought back on it, Helmios had also been pretty worried about them when he first mentioned that they were going to take on the Rank S floor bosses. All of Sacred, too, had been rather caring and considerate toward Allen and the No-life Gamers. That was probably because not only had Admiral Garara failed to take out the final boss of the Rank S dungeon despite being accompanied by some of Baukis’s best, but the two parties had also spent the past few months living in close quarters.
“It’ll be fine. Besides, Allen’s gotten stronger now. Maybe even a little too strong.” Cecil cast a sidelong glare in Allen’s direction.
“Well, you know, I’m the only one who can’t change classes.”
Unlike his comrades, who were able to boost their base stats over and over again through class promotions, Allen could not transfer even half of his stats over to a new class. He could barely even level up.
“That doesn’t matter anymore, though,” Dogora responded. Everyone else nodded in agreement.
I mean, sure, I’ve grown powerful enough that changing classes no longer matters, but on the other hand, I’m not about to settle for this.
He was satisfied only for a brief instant before quickly realizing that this was just another step down a very long road.
Upon entering the dungeon, the Gamers used their medals to go straight to Floor 4. This was the first time they had even approached the cube to teleport them to the next one.
“Floor 5 it is. Please present five bronze medal variations, five iron medal variations, and five mithril medal variations.”
“Here you are.”
Allen retrieved the five medals of each type, including those obtained from beating the Rank S floor bosses, and held them out toward the cube. The medals disappeared, and the party was instantly teleported away.
Keel was the first to speak up. “Where are we?”
Allen looked around. They were in a dimly lit space of indeterminate size. Pipes ran across the floor and came together in a variety of parts, giving the impression that they were inside some kind of gigantic magic tool or surrounded by machinery. There was a cube directly in front of them, and lights shone off in the distance ahead of, behind, and to either side of them.
“It’s quiet. Maybe there’s no enemy here?”
Dogora readjusted his greataxe on his shoulder as Krena drew her blade and took position to protect the party members in the rear.
I mean, it’s not like we were ever ambushed whenever we reached the final floor of Rank A dungeons either.
In dungeons of Ranks C through A, the boss would not attack until you drew close enough. However, considering that this was the final floor and that it was quite different from the ones that came before, it seemed wise to maintain a certain degree of caution despite the lack of monsters spawning. Allen could sense no presence other than their own.
“Seems like there aren’t any monsters here, which means that this is just an open area until we close in on the boss,” Cecil responded in kind to Allen’s cautious assessment.
“You’re right. I see several lights off in the distance. What should we do?”
First off, Allen decided to approach the cube in front of them.
“I am Special System S501. I can take you away from this floor. Do you wish to leave?”
“No, we would like to fight the final boss.”
“Understood. In that case, make your way to the system up ahead.”
“Okay.” As directed, the party made their way toward the light up ahead.
As they walked, they spotted a waist-high platform with three indentations in it. The indentations were the exact same size as the medals they had collected previously. Before long, they reached a cube floating in the center of a square with lantern-like magic tools on each of its four corners.
“I am Final Floor Boss Transfer System S505, the transportation system to the final boss. I am unable to transport you to the final boss as you have not yet placed the necessary medals into the platform.”
“What? You mean we can’t go?”
“What does it mean about putting medals in the platform?”
“Please speak with each of the medal transfer systems for more information.”
“Hmm. Well, it seems like this cube here will send us to the final floor boss, but we need to put medals in the platform. I guess we need to speak with the other lights to find out more.”
The party returned to their starting position, then made their way to the light off to the right, where they reached another cube with lantern-like magic tools floating in front of it.
“So I guess we’re supposed to use this cube to take on each of the bosses and get their medals?”
“Looks like it, Cecil.”
Allen approached the cube.
“I am Bronze Transfer System S502. Do you wish to travel to the Bronze Zone?”
“No, I have a question. Are the medals we need to put in the platform the ones we can obtain in the Bronze Zone?”
“That is correct. You can obtain a medal by defeating the golem, protector of the bronze medal.”
The party made their way to the other lights to speak with each one. Allen wrote the information they gave down in his grimoire.
Locations and Names of Systems on Rank S Dungeon Final Floor
System S501: located at the center of the final floor, meant for escaping
System S502: located to the right, teleport to the Bronze Zone
System S503: located to the rear, teleport to the Iron Zone
System S504: located to the left, teleport to the Mithril Zone
System S505: located up ahead, teleport to the final floor boss
Platform for the medals: located in the central area
As expected, they would need to take down the golem protectors in each of the three medal zones, then put the medals they obtain from them into the platform in order to challenge the final boss.
“Which one should we try, Allen?”
Krena wanted to know which golem protector they would beat first. Not a single one of the Gamers considered going home an option.
“Well, why don’t we try the Bronze Zone, since that will probably be the weakest?”
The same logic had applied to the other floors as well, with bronze being the weakest of the medal-dropping enemies.
“I am Bronze Transfer System S502. Do you wish to travel to the Bronze Zone?”
“Yes.”
Bloop.
Upon Allen’s answer, the party was instantly teleported to a space with a massive golem in it.
Allen spoke aloud as his mind raced to take in their surroundings. “This place is pretty big... And wow, that golem is huge!”
Standing nearly a hundred meters tall was a golem made of bronze. It looked as if it was waiting for them to approach.
“We need to beat that thing?”
“Looks like it. Anyway, looks like this is our first battle. Merus, you’re up.”
Allen Summoned Merus, who instantly swooped in toward the large golem.
Much like Allen’s other Summons, it appeared that when Merus was in the grimoire in card form, all of Allen’s experiences and thoughts were shared with him, allowing him to act as needed without awaiting commands.
Once Merus drew close, the golem began to move. Its arm spun like a drill as it swung at the Angel A Summon. Merus threw his arms up to block the attack, but he was quickly overpowered and sent flying back.
“Ngh!”
Whoa, looks like its Attack is pretty high.
After Strengthening, Merus’s Attack stat was 22,000. The bronze golem’s must have been even higher than that.
It was right then that Allen noticed something.
＊ ＊ ＊
Merus’s halo began to glow as he spoke, his words coming so fast that they all blurred together.
“Angel Halo Ability activated. Operator permissions confirmed. Summoning Dragon A.”
Moments later, a Dragon A was Summoned behind Allen. It let out a mighty roar.
