Hell Mode: Volume 5, page 11
It was unclear why or how these slates related to the golems that supposedly could reach a hundred meters in height. For any more details about this and other aspects of the Rank S dungeon, the group would have to actually head to the Temple of Yanpany. And so, without further ado, the No-life Gamers set off once again, their roster fully restored after what felt like ages.
Chapter 7: Rank S Dungeon
So far on their journey, Allen’s group had been approached by representatives of two different emperors requesting their appearance: the Giamutan envoy on the magic ship and Baukisian Foreign Minister Nukakai at the hotel.
The thing was, just because an emperor was interested in meeting someone did not necessarily mean the audience would happen immediately. For example, it took ten days for the king of Ratash to arrange everything for Sophie’s audience. With these two emperors, it would not at all be surprising if the Gamers would have to wait over a month to meet with them. And of course, Allen thought anything short of immediate access like what he had to the elven queen’s audience hall was wasted time that could be put to much better use.
With Meruru back in the group, the No-life Gamers mounted their Bird Bs and flew northeast for the Temple of Yanpany. As always, they intended to use Allen’s Summons to travel around the country as well as to fight inside the Rank S dungeon.
Allen had given Nukakai a brief introduction of his Summons earlier. The minister had apparently known close to nothing about Allen’s being a Summoner, and his reaction was nothing more than “Oh, yes, I believe I’ve heard mention of this.” He asked Allen to refrain from calling out his Summons inside any settlements, but said there should be no issue doing so out in the open.
This general lack of alarm was very likely tied to the fact that Baukis had golems in its command. Baukisians were very aware that their country had the strongest military in the world, and they all harbored a deeply rooted belief that it was simply impossible for anyone to be more powerful than a golem.
As a change of pace, Allen’s co-passenger today was Meruru, not Cecil.
“So you’ve become a noble as well?” he asked her.
“Yep! I showed ’em who’s boss!” Meruru beamed as she recounted tales of the events following her departure from the Ratashian Academy.
Back in Ratash, Meruru had always seemed somewhat insecure and unsure of herself. Now, however, she could talk about herself while grinning from ear to ear. The war had clearly been a good experience for her, serving as an opportunity to build up both her military achievements and self-esteem.
In recognition of her efforts, Meruru had been made an honorary baron, the same rank as Krena. Apparently making those with three-star Talents—such as Sword Lords and Saintesses—honorary nobles when they graduated from the Academy was common practice in this world. However, in Meruru’s case, she had been given her status due to her military exploits, as she had yet to graduate at the time. There was no worldwide agreement behind this particular practice, but all nations did it anyway to ensure that valuable personnel did not get siphoned away by foreign powers.
That’s my confirmation that Meruru’s class really is three stars. However, since she gave some of the Seeds of Magic away, she hasn’t quite maxed out her skill levels yet. Her overall level has reached Lvl. 60, though, which is great.
Despite her countless dungeon runs as a part of the No-life Gamers in Ratash, she never earned a single point of skill XP. This was because all of her skills were related to piloting golems, and there were no golems to use in Ratash. It was only after she returned to Baukis and fought the Demon Lord Army as a pilot—with her Baukis-issued golem—that she started raising her skill levels. However, because she gave away so many Seeds of Magic, she ended up using her skills less frequently than Allen had expected. Her skills were still only Lvl. 4.
* * *
Name: Meruru
Age: 14
Class: Talos General
Level: 60
HP: 1,677 + 900
MP: 2,420 + 900
Attack: 782 + 900
Endurance: 1,318 + 900
Agility: 782
Intelligence: 2,420
Luck: 1,503
Skills: Talos General {4}, Rocket Punch {4}, Drill Punch {4}, Laser Sword {4}, Alloy {1}, Spear Mastery {3}, Shield Mastery {3}
Extra Skill: Union (Right Arm)
Skill Levels
Rocket Punch: 4
Drill Punch: 4
Laser Sword: 4
Skill Experience
Rocket Punch: 430/10,000
Drill Punch: 550/10,000
Laser Sword: 280/10,000
* * *
Meruru’s Status looked very similar to Krena’s back when she was still a Sword Lord; Meruru now had +900 buffs to four stats.
All her stats have gone up significantly. But...I see, her battle strength still very much relies on her having a golem. Ooooh, I see “Drill Punch” listed here. I can’t wait to see it in action!
Meruru’s skills all dealt damage with the assumption that she had access to a golem. So, once the Gamers found all the necessary golem parts inside the Tower of Tribulation, she would be able to use those skills all she wanted. With that, Allen wrote up a list of things he wanted to find within the Rank S dungeon:
The slates that serve as parts for Meruru’s golem
Orichalcum weapons and armor
Accessories that provide buffs higher than +1,000
Useful magic tools
The No-life Gamers had obtained many desirable items from Rank A dungeons that were otherwise impossible to obtain from Auctions, and intel had it that they could expect more of the same from the Rank S dungeon. Given this, Allen was hoping to upgrade his entire party’s gear in one go. Moreover, Helmios had told the Gamers they could expect to find other kinds of items that would prove indispensable on future adventures as well.
“So you got to meet Hero Helmios in Rohzenheim?” Meruru asked.
“We sure did. He was the same as ever. Speaking of, he said he’d be coming to Yanpany once Giamut is done celebrating the end of the war.”
Helmios had himself been promoted from Hero to Hero King, the process of which had reverted him back to Lvl. 1. He was planning on giving the Rank S dungeon another go with his own party as a way to level himself back up.
“Whoa, so the esteemed Hero is coming.” Awe tinged Meruru’s eyes. “You sound like you’ve gotten real close with him.”
“Hm? I’m not at all, though.”
The party landed for a lunch break, then resumed flying northeast. A few hours later, a shape came into view on the horizon that completely broke their sense of distance, like a landscape painting with poorly drawn perspective. This silhouette gradually turned into a mountain-like structure with a base area wider than Dongbao that stood so tall it pierced the clouds.
“That’s the dungeon?” Allen asked.
Meruru peered out from behind his back. “Mm-hm, should be.”
“Um...it’s really big.”
“Aha ha, ya can’t even see the top!”
I did sorta expect it to be a tower, since the dungeon’s name is literally the Tower of Tribulation. That said, it couldn’t look any more different from the dungeons back at Academy City.
The Academy City dungeons looked like small apartment buildings on the outside but were actually massive spaces accessed via portals. The way the portals worked was quite complicated, as they sent parties to uniquely generated, isolated dimensions, but the exterior of the buildings looked entirely normal. In contrast, the Tower of Tribulation was so tall that clouds obscured it a certain distance up, making it impossible to gauge the structure’s exact height.
“Hm? Where’s the Temple of Yanpany? I only see the Tower of Tribulation.”
Contrary to his expectations, Allen failed to see anything resembling a temple near the tower, which stood on its lonesome. He now wondered just where exactly it was the dwarves conducted their worship of Dungeon Master Dygragni.
“The Temple of Yanpany is on the first floor of the Tower of Tribulation!” Meruru replied in a confident voice. She had firmly believed that she would eventually get to challenge the Rank S dungeon with her friends, and so had done her best to gather information from comrades and superiors during her time on the battlefield.
“Seriously? Both the temple and the dungeon are in that giant tower?”
Allen then asked Meruru to share everything she knew. Apparently, this tower that bridged the endless wasteland below with the sky above was more than ten times the size of the World Tree in Rohzenheim. The sight of the Tower took the Gamers’ breath away as they wondered how on earth such a structure came to be.
The only one who reacted differently was the God of Spirits. From his usual position on Sophie’s shoulder, he gazed at the huge tower with an intense expression.
＊ ＊ ＊
Eventually, the No-life Gamers drew close enough to make out a line of people stretched in front of the Tower of Tribulation. Recalling Nukakai’s warning, the party landed their Bird Bs some distance away to avoid causing a panic and headed over to join the queue on foot.
The size of the tower indicated that it likely physically housed the Rank S dungeon inside, unlike how the dungeons in Academy City had been separate dimensions. The Bird E that Allen had sent ahead to observe the exterior of the structure confirmed that there were no windows and that there were doors located at regular intervals on the ground floor of the tower.
So there isn’t only one entrance.
Out of curiosity, Allen had Bird E continue flying up. However, no matter how much time passed, the top of the tower never came into sight.
Well, this is a world with magic ships. I guess Dygragni isn’t stupid enough to let people cheese the tower by getting in from the top.
At a certain distance from the tower, the line of people split up into smaller streams heading for the various entrances. Allen and his group picked one at random and fell into step. When Allen noticed the man who was standing before them in line, however, a “Huh?” involuntarily escaped his lips.
The man was taller than every one of the Gamers and was not wearing anything above the waist aside from the greatsword on his back. As Allen looked up, he noticed the thick fur covering the man’s skin and, eventually, the doglike ears crowning his head.
The beastkin turned around in response to Allen’s voice and, upon noticing his gaze, bared his teeth in a less-than-friendly manner and glared. “The fuck you lookin’ at, huh?!”
“Sorry, sir. It was nothing.”
“Hmph.” After giving Allen a slow once-over from head to toe, the man snorted and turned back.
As it turned out, the line in front was filled with not only dwarves but also a decent number of humans and beastkin.
At the Academy, Allen had learned the difference between “human” and “person.” Namely, “human” was the race, and “people” was a term that also included elves and beastkin. Naturally, that meant Krena and Allen were also “people,” and so if a distinction were to be made, they would be called “humans.” This was a concept that had arisen out of the need to refer to all races with one term when the Five Continent Alliance was assembled.
There are quite a lot of beastkin here. Did they come over from the continent to the south? Wow, this world’s animal people are all so furry.
To the south of the Empire of Baukis lay the Garlesian Continent, which was split up among numerous beastkin countries. The beastkin in line had very likely originated from there. Allen wondered if they were here hoping to get rich quick.
The line steadily crept forward until the No-life Gamers finally reached the front. Their mixed-race party garnered a few weird looks from the guards, but once they showed their adventurer cards, they were let in without a fuss.
When they stepped through the doorway, Krena’s eyes lit up. “It’s a whole city!”
The inside of the tower was so brightly lit that one would never guess that it had no windows. There were buildings packed tightly together, creating a townscape that was undoubtedly a metropolis.
“This is incredible... You’re right, this really is a whole city inside a dungeon,” Allen agreed.
It was clear that the walls of the city matched the external shape of the tower. The illumination inside was somewhat distinct from actual sunlight, and it became immediately obvious where this light was coming from.
“Look! It’s glowing!” Krena pointed toward the heart of the city, her excitement rising another notch.
One building towered over the rest of the cityscape, topped by something radiating bright light.
“Is that the Temple of Yanpany?” Allen led his companions toward the building, recalling what he had just heard about this Rank S dungeon and the temple, all as he took in the sights all around.
“Yep, it sure is!” Meruru confirmed.
“And it’s...in the middle of the city, of course.”
A Bird E appeared above Allen’s head and flew up to get a bird’s-eye view of the area. Barely half a day earlier, someone very important had told him not to use his Summons inside a city, but Allen decided he must have simply heard wrong.
It’s very spacious in here, but it looks like there is an actual ceiling. That said, this is a massive city. So, if the first floor is this city, does that mean the actual dungeon starts on the second floor? Okay, Bird E is coming up on the temple.
The clearance of this floor was so high that Hawkins had more than enough space to leisurely circle the air way up above everyone. The layout of the city was circular, with the structure that was most likely the Temple of Yanpany located in the center and the buildings in concentric circles radiating outward. From high above, this looked quite similar to tree rings.
According to Meruru, the Temple of Yanpany had existed since the days when Baukis was still a kingdom thousands of years ago. This countryside temple was dedicated to Dygragni, the being who controlled the dungeons and oversaw everything related to magic tools. The more the priests prayed, the larger the temple grew until this dungeon appeared all around it. That was how the temple and the dungeon were related, and people claimed that it was Dygragni who had made all this happen.
So this is what’s illuminating this whole city.
Atop the temple was an illumination magic tool. Back when he was a manservant, Allen had seen something similar installed in the Granvelle mansion. This one, however, was powerful enough to light up a city that dwarfed even Baukis’s capital.
“What’re we gonna do now, Allen?” Cecil asked.
“Huh?” Roused from his thoughts, Allen turned toward her. “Well, we arrived earlier than I expected. How about we go to the temple and see what they can tell us about the dungeon?”
Everyone nodded. They already knew that Allen was not the kind of person to spend time aimlessly wandering around the city.
“Man, there’s even a magic train here,” Keel commented.
Dogora looked over to see what Keel was talking about. “Damn, you’re right. Is this place seriously a dungeon?”
Upon overhearing this exchange, Allen had Bird E look for a train station. It quickly found one close to their current location and confirmed that the tracks did run to the center of the city, passing close to the temple. The group made their way to the station and boarded a train.
As they rode the train, Allen gazed out the window at the people going to and fro outside. “Why were there so many adventurers outside just now, by the way? Isn’t everyone here to explore the dungeon inside the Tower?”
“Um, I remember hearing that there are a bunch of other dungeons all around the Tower of Tribulation,” Meruru explained. “So, a lot of adventurers staying in this city are probably heading for those dungeons instead.”
The Tower was surrounded by countless dungeons ranging from Rank C to A. As such, a significant percentage of the adventurers in the Tower were actually there for those dungeons instead. This city was almost a whole world unto itself, with a unique community revolving around dungeons—especially the Rank S one in particular.
These thoughts were still rattling around inside Allen’s mind as the magic train reached the station before the temple. The party got off and hoofed it the rest of the way. The glimpses that they caught in the gaps between the buildings gave them the impression that the temple itself looked very much like a magic tool, a stark contrast to the wooden temple in Rohzenheim where the elves worshipped Rohzen.
“That’s one tall-ass building,” Dogora observed with a bit of a sigh as he stared up.
“It sure is,” Allen agreed as he looked up with him. “And the magic tool at the top is very likely what’s illuminating this city.”
The Temple of Yanpany turned out to be a pencil-shaped structure that was around the same height as the tallest radio tower in Japan. At its very top, just as Bird E had spied, was a giant, brightly shining magic tool. The area surrounding the temple was filled with the whir and hum of some power source at work.
Many adventurers were busily going into and exiting the temple in a vigorous flow. The No-life Gamers joined them to walk inside.
“Wha—?! You there, you squirts! This ain’t a place for you kids to be!”
Suddenly, Allen’s group found their path blocked by a temple guard at the door.
“Huh?”
“Only those with the right to enter the Rank S dungeon are allowed to pass. Go home! Shoo, shoo!”
Wait, are you serious?
Apparently the guard had jumped to conclusions based on how young the Gamers looked. Despite his surprise, though, Allen still had the presence of mind to produce his invitation card.
“OH! My deepest apologies. You’re so young, and already...” Now it was the guard’s turn to be surprised, but he yielded the way without any more fuss.
When they were inside the temple, Cecil huffed a little. “How rude, judging us by our looks!”
