Hell Mode: Volume 6, page 11
“Gwaaaaaaargh!!!”
“Listen up, Orochi! I want you to meet his attacks head-on and make an opening for us!”
One of Orochi’s five heads responded to the command. “Yes, Master Merus!” With that, the dragon closed in on the monstrous bronze golem.
The attacking golem began to spin both of its arms, turning them into drills once again and striking at the Dragon A’s two outermost heads. Orochi attempted to dodge the strike, but only one head was able to narrowly escape; the other was ripped to shreds.
However, a loud squelching sound could be heard coming from the Dragon A’s neck as a new head began to sprout from the carnage. This was Orochi’s Ability, Super Regeneration.
This is definitely going to be useful. With five heads to work with, it can protect anyone that gets injured while still keeping up the offensive.
Up until recently, Allen had had little choice but to use his Summons as if they were disposable in the face of such powerful enemies, which in turn consumed a great number of magic stones. A Summon like Dragon A, which fought with extreme doggedness, would prove invaluable.
Just as he had hoped, Orochi continued to lay on the damage while healing all of his own wounds.
More to the point, though, this Angel Halo Ability is beyond awesome. Now to figure out just what these operator permissions can do.
Allen thought back on the Ability Merus had used earlier and, after opening his grimoire and turning to Merus’s page, found that there was yet another page dedicated to Angel Halo.
Angel Halo Permissions
Manage Angel Halo’s permissions:
Summon: Unlimited
Create: Locked
Synthesis: Locked
Strengthening: Unlocked
Awakening: Unlocked
Storage: Unlocked
Sharing: Unlocked
Quick Summoning: Unlocked
Deputize: Unlocked
Equivalency: Locked
Daily Summon Limit: Locked
Distance from Operator: Unlimited
Chat Functionality: Unlimited
According to the grimoire, Allen could authorize Merus to use various Summoning skills. For example, he could choose which Rank H through A Summons Merus had access to. He could even give him unlimited access, which would allow the Angel A free rein to call forth any Summons Allen himself had access to.
He could also set a Daily Summon Limit to restrict the number of magic stones used in creating the Summons. These, too, could be set on a per-rank basis, such as setting a limit of one Rank E or ten Rank D magic stones.
“Distance from Operator” referred to the distance Merus could be from Allen and still be able to use Angel Halo. By setting this to one kilometer, for example, Merus would lose all of his Summoning skills once he was outside that radius.
It looks like this doesn’t add to my Skill XP, though. But I guess that’d be hoping for a little too much.
Angel Halo used up Merus’s own MP, meaning that Allen would not receive any XP for any Summons Merus Created.
For the time being, Allen decided to restrict the permissions to just what would be needed for fighting. Judging by their earlier exchange, other Summons like Orochi seemed to obey Merus’s commands, possibly due to Merus holding a higher position than them. There was no mention of this in the list of permissions, however.
While Allen was busy mulling over these new observations, the Dragon A and bronze golem had reached a stalemate. The bronze golem could not overcome Orochi’s regenerative powers, but Orochi was not strong enough to win on its own. The rest of the party stood by as the battle unfolded before them, awaiting Allen’s command.
Allen gave out orders based on what he had seen in the battle between the Dragon A and the golem. “Looks like this bronze golem’s pretty tough! Watch out for its drill punch and give it all your best moves!”
“All right, we’re up!”
“Let’s go!”
Dogora and Krena stepped up from the rear of the group, hefted their weapons, then closed in on the bronze golem while Meruru called forth Tam-Tam. She moved carefully around Dogora and Krena so as to not squish her companions as she neared the golem.
The bronze golem turned its attention away from the Dragon A as it took notice of Tam-Tam. A moment later, Tam-Tam’s arms shot out, taking a firm hold of its opponent’s shoulders.
“Booyaaah!”
Tam-Tam pressed its feet firmly into the ground in an attempt to lock the bronze golem in place, but the golem continued to press on, slowly pushing it back.
“Hnnngh!”
Its arms began spinning once again, and the bronze golem struck at Tam-Tam’s lower back, slowly drilling its way through Tam-Tam’s body as a loud screeching sound filled the air.
Meanwhile, Dogora and Krena had reached the bronze golem’s feet and were letting loose with all they had, though all they could manage was to chop away at its body. They were doing little damage to the monster.
“This guy’s made up of some really tough stuff!”
Despite possessing a jaw-dropping Attack stat thanks to having undergone three class promotions, Dogora was surprised at just how hard the bronze golem’s exterior was. Apparently Krena was having the same issue as well.
These Rank S monsters on Floor 4 are completely different beasts from what we dealt with on Floor 2. This guy seems almost as strong as Rehzel.
Even Cecil’s offensive magic and Sophie’s spirit magic attacks had little effect on the bronze golem, suggesting that the monster had rather high resistance against both physical and magical attacks. They once again found themselves deadlocked.
“Allen, what do you think about Limit Break?!”
Seemingly frustrated, Krena asked Allen if she could use her Extra Skill, Limit Break, to boost her stats.
“No, not yet. Merus, are you ready?”
“Absolutely! Looks like it worked.”
“Huh?”
Merus, who had been busy using one of his Abilities while avoiding the bronze golem’s strikes, flew down to Krena’s side and held his hand out toward her sword.
“This enemy is weak to lightning elemental attacks, so I’m going to change everyone’s element to lightning.” Purple bolts of electricity began to run up and down the length of Krena’s blade. “Try attacking him now.”
Following Merus’s command, Krena slammed her lightning-empowered sword into the giant’s ankle, causing the previously unfazed bronze golem to lose its balance. Its leg twisted inward before it stomped its other foot down again to right itself.
“Awesome, my attack worked!”
“H-Hey, do me too!” Dogora shouted.
Merus next moved around and used his Ability on Dogora’s greataxe, followed by Volmaar’s and Sophie’s bows and arrows.
Merus’s Ability, Endow Element, allowed him to change the element of friend and foe alike. For allies, it could grant a specific elemental affinity to any weapon, skill, or magic which did not already have one; for enemies, it could add an elemental weakness. Though there were some cases in which it did not work all that well due to a monster’s rank, skills, or its own defenses, this was how Merus had been able to defeat BB and Crimson on his own.
“This is great! My magic is finally getting through!” Cecil cheered excitedly. Ever since becoming a Wizardess King, she had had access to lightning elemental magic. And because Merus was unable to change the element of offensive magic that already had its one, he instead changed the enemy’s weakness to coincide with Cecil’s capabilities. With two rings boosting her Intelligence—which was already impressive at over 10,000—by 3,000 points each, her lightning magic attacks were so strong that they slowly began to push the bronze golem back one step at a time.
Merus then pulled a Blessing of Heaven out of Storage and, upon replenishing all of his MP, closed in on the bronze golem. He concentrated all of his magical power into the palm of his hand before letting loose with his Awakened Ability.
“Begone, miscreant! Judgment Lightning!”
The ball of magical energy shot out from Merus’s palm in elongated, purple bolts of lightning that struck the bronze golem straight in the chest.
The golem tumbled backward and slammed into the ground on its rear with a tremendous thud that reverberated throughout the entire zone. Despite its attempts to get up, its movements seemed slow and restrained. Judgment Lightning had the additional effect of temporarily paralyzing the enemy.
“Looks like he’s slowed down quite a bit.”
And yet he’s still not down for the count.
“Time for the finishing blow!”
Krena activated her Extra Skill and ran up the bronze golem’s leg. Cecil’s lightning magic, Sophie’s and Volmaar’s lightning-imbued arrows, and Dogora’s lightning-powered greataxe all hit at the same time as Krena dove up from the golem’s knee and stabbed straight into its chest with her electric blade.
“Bwoooomf!”
The bronze golem let out one final roar before disappearing in a flash of light, leaving behind a single treasure chest. Text flashed onto the cover of the grimoire.
“We did it! Good job, team!”
While his friends were cheering at their victory over the powerful enemy, Keel noticed a floating cube toward the back of the room as well as another treasure chest in front of it.
“I guess there’s another one because of how difficult that monster was.”
Keel excitedly opened the treasure chests. Inside the bronze golem’s chest, he found a tablet for a mithril golem’s body. In the chest in front of the cube was a medal with a bronze golem embossed on it. He could not help but be disappointed at having pulled such low-value items.
“Hey, don’t be so quick to be disappointed, Keel. Look, this is our reward for beating one of the final floor bosses.”
The treasure chest the bronze golem had dropped had been made of wood, just like the ones they had run across countless times in previous dungeons. Allen figured that, just as they did in dungeons of Ranks C through A, silver and gold chests were also likely to appear here.
“Yeah, but it’s gonna be pretty rough having to fight such a powerful enemy over and over again just to get those silver and gold chests.”
Back when they were clearing dungeons at the Academy, silver chests appeared roughly once in every ten attempts, while gold ones spawned once in every hundred.
“Anyway, our goal this time around is to defeat the final floor boss.”
Though I guess this means that we also need to defeat two more golems just like this one.
Even though they had not fought the final floor boss yet, Allen had gotten a taste of just how powerful it would be. After defeating the bronze golem, Allen decided to put the iron golem on the back burner for a bit. The party spent the next two days exploring Floor 3 of the dungeon before returning to their base.
“Wow, so there are three more bosses on Floor 5 besides the floor boss?” Helmios asked.
“It seems that way, yes. We had quite a hard time against the bronze golem, which is likely the weakest of the bunch.”
“How bad was it?”
“Hmm, I’d say just a tad easier than our battle against Rehzel.”
Allen told Helmios about the onslaught of dual-fisted drill punches that could have taken out anyone in the party’s rear guard with a single blow. He also explained how, like Demonic Deity Rehzel, the bronze golem had high defense and was practically immune to both physical and magic attacks. They were only able to finally defeat it after repeatedly utilizing their more powerful magic and skills.
However, unlike Rehzel, the bronze golem did not have the ability to resurrect itself or use ranged attacks. That was what ultimately led Allen to rank it below Rehzel in terms of power, as they were still able to hack away at its HP from a distance.
“That’s pretty impressive, no?” Rosetta asked, her eyes wide with surprise. The rest of Helmios’s party also looked taken aback. Admiral Garara, however, who was sitting on the sofa in the corner of the dining room, was still in a dark mood.
“Tch, gettin’ yerselves all chuffed up over beatin’ a silly li’l bronze golem.”
Oh, he’s here?
“What’d you say?!”
And Dogora’s falling for it, just like usual.
Allen allowed himself a brief moment of celebration as he watched their usual screaming match begin to unfold.
“Hah? Ye don’t know nothin’. There’re two iron golems, I’ll have ye know. There’s no way ye little kiddies can defeat ’em if you’re so excited about beatin’ a single bronze golem. Ye buffoons make me laugh! Gah ha ha!”
Dogora stood up from his seat, fist clenched, as the admiral’s laughter filled the room. It looked as if a fight were about to break out.
“Hey, Dogora...”
Allen, with the help of Keel and Volmaar, managed to push Dogora back into his seat.
Sounds like getting the next two medals will be no easy task.
Allen had figured that the iron golem would be stronger than the bronze golem, of course, but he never would have guessed that there would be more than one of them. Though it had not been given with the best of intentions, he was thankful for the admiral’s information.
When Allen and the others had first expressed their intention of going to Floor 5, Admiral Garara had commented that “Strength alone won’t get ye to the final floor boss.” While this had not exactly been offered up out of the kindness of his heart, Allen took it as advice on how they would be able to confront the final floor boss. He had expected that once they defeated the bronze golem and mentioned they were going to take on the iron golem, the admiral would provide yet more information. Rough around the edges though he may have been, Admiral Garara was not a bad person.
Suddenly, the grimoire appeared in front of Allen.
Huh?
Silver text appeared on its matte black cover.
There was only one person who could have done that.
Allen summoned Merus. His Ability, Angel Halo, gave him the power to write in the grimoire’s log—a power Allen had given him when assigning Merus Summoning permissions. However, Merus was unable to Summon himself.
“This what you wanted?”
“Yep.”
Merus made his way to one of the sofas lining the wall of the dining room and plopped down as the whole room watched on in silence. Since they all regarded Merus as the First Angel and right hand of Lord Elmea, his presence was still a bit much to take in no matter how many times they saw him.
On the other hand, Allen figured that Merus was taking this Summon thing as an opportunity to relax now that he was no longer the First Angel.
He’s acting just like a guy who finally quit his slave-driving company to loaf around the house.
When he had previously summoned Merus to the base, Merus had told him all about the trouble he had gone through in creating Allen’s Summons. It seemed that Elmea, the God of Creation, had quite a strong personality. He refused to compromise on anything, from balancing with other classes to the designs of the Summons. This meant that, for each rank, it had taken over a year to decide on the Summons’ looks and Abilities.
Which is why nothing’s been decided about the Rank S Summons.
Apparently Merus had not completely hashed out the Rank A Summons by the time Kyubel killed him. Allen could only hope that the next angel in charge was currently working on implementing the Rank S Summons for when Allen reached Summoning Lvl. 9.
“Are you sure it’s okay for you to just lounge around like that, Mr. Angel, sir?” Having nowhere else to direct his anger, Dogora took his annoyance out on Merus.
From the way he was just chilling out on the sofa, Merus certainly did not appear even remotely alarmed by the fact that the Demon Lord Army had stolen the divine vessel and that everyone in the Mortal Realm was facing extinction. Keel and the rest of the party seemed to share Dogora’s concern, appearing somewhat saddened and troubled by the situation.
Merus looked confused at this. “Hm? Well, the Goddess of Fire’s divine vessel being stolen is definitely a big issue.” However, he seemed wholly disinterested in the danger facing the planet.
“Are those in the Heavenly Realm not concerned about the Mortal Realm?”
Allen continued to press the point. If possible, he wanted to know to what extent the Heavenly Realm actually considered the Mortal Realm. Did they want them to prosper, or did they not care if all life perished? Would they be willing to throw in their lot with helping humanity destroy the Demon Lord Army, or did they have no intention of intervening?
“You guys seem to have a problem with my attitude.” Merus sat up on the sofa and reclined into its back. Everyone watched on in silence, waiting for the ex-angel to speak. “Well, I guess I can’t blame you. If you’re so concerned about it, I guess I’ll tell you. The gods, you see, believe in the importance of maintaining harmony.”
“Is that somehow different from saving humanity?”
“Yes and no. If the people are to be saved, that would only be when it is considered necessary for the gods to preserve this harmony. Essentially, people should prosper through their own power, and while the gods do provide teachings to the people, they believe that they should not interfere with how things play out.”
“But aren’t there gods, such as spirit and beast gods, who dedicate themselves to certain species?” For example, there was Rohzen, the Spirit God of Rohzenheim, as well as Garm, the Beast God of Albahal.
“That’s because these particular gods have decided to walk amongst these species.”
“So what you’re saying is that the gods don’t even care if the people die, as long as harmony is maintained, huh?!” Dogora shouted, clearly upset. He was not impressed by the way Merus was explaining the attitude of the gods.
“H-Hey, calm down, Dogora.”
Keel was taken aback by Dogora’s fearless determination. As far as he was concerned, Dogora was directly confronting an ex-First Angel. However, Merus merely continued to laze about on the sofa, a sardonic grin spreading to his lips.
