Hell Mode: Volume 7, page 11
Well, there’s no such thing as a perfect world. Certain settings need to be enforced to maintain the state of the world.
In his previous life, there had been no such thing as a perfect game with no bugs or cheats. Even beyond gaming, the news was constantly reporting on people who had found loopholes in laws and other real-world systems that had allowed them to profit unfairly. It made sense that the world was flawed, and that flawed logic could be exploited. And in response to such bugs and cheats, the management side would increase regulations and freeze users.
“So you’re saying that in order to prevent such information from being leaked, Elmea doesn’t inform even those who have newly become gods and controls information closely?”
“Correct. However, complete control is impossible. Because of that, we have gotten this far by fixing systems that have frayed many times over, all the while changing the logic.”
“‘Changing the logic,’ huh?”
“But as a result, either every child born will become a hero, or sudden changes in Talents will leave people unable to do what they should be doing. We’ll find ourselves in an impossible situation no matter the outcome. It’s happened many times before.”
Suddenly, Allen picked up on something.
Oh, right. I see. That’s why you always maintained a distant attitude. That’s why you don’t want to appear in front of the priests of the Elmea Church.
It had only been four months or so since Merus appeared before the Gamers as a Summon, but even so, Allen felt that Merus had always tried to maintain a certain distance from them. He thought it was strange that he did not want to be Summoned in front of the Elmean priests. On the other hand, whenever he asked Merus to help with something, Merus would sometimes become annoyed or sarcastic, showing his true personality. Allen figured that Merus was keeping his distance from the people of this world, and the Summoner had made his own assumptions. But now, he sensed that there was a good reason for it.
“Merus. About this world that lost its harmony...”
Before Allen even had a chance to finish speaking, Merus spoke up. “I destroyed it, of course.”
Allen heard the rest of the Gamers gasp.
“No, the gods would never do something like that...” Sophie, an ardent believer in the spirit gods, was even more shocked than the rest of her friends.
“That can only mean...”
“Your theory is correct, Sir Allen. Lord Elmea will not directly involve himself.”
“Huh? But then who...” Cecil seemed to figure out the answer before she even finished her question.
“That’s correct. I... We angels, who are God’s representatives, did it. It’s been about a hundred thousand years since I was created, and it’s happened several times during my life. Of course, destroying the world means destroying the humans who inhabit it. If you were to total it all up, the number of people the Demon Lord Army has killed in the past few decades is minuscule by comparison.”
For the past fifty years, the Demon Lord has been waging wars year after year and has managed to destroy four countries. The total must be around a hundred million, but for that to look minuscule must mean...
“Of course, destroying the world doesn’t happen that easily. And when we recreate the world, we take measures to prevent the same things from happening again. However, as time passes, new cracks appear in the logic, and people who try to take advantage of those cracks will inevitably appear. So, we fix the cracks and change the logic, but the result is a further disturbance of the harmony. If Lord Elmea decides that the disturbance is too much, the process is repeated.”
Merus grimaced bitterly.
A great reset once every tens of thousands of years, huh? I wonder what would have happened in my previous life if there’d been a god thinking the same thing.
In Allen’s past life, each country had experienced poverty, discrimination due to differences in wealth and race, and both conflicts between religions and disagreements within sects, which would often culminate in civil war. Human activities had also led to wars of aggression against foreign countries and environmental problems that resulted in natural disasters and starvation. Mankind had tried to find a way to deal with these issues, but they had not resolved the differences in national intentions or the conflicts between ethnic groups, and thus no fundamental solution had been found.
“When a man notices a crack in logic, he always tries to take advantage of it. And it’s not just for selfish reasons, like seeking power or honor. There were those who tried to use the cracks for altruistic reasons such as wanting to improve the world as they knew it—to help others. In any case, once it was known to one person, it was only a matter of time before it spread. That’s just how humans are.”
“Even if they keep silent, there are still jobs in which people’s minds are read, as well as fortune-telling.” Allen could tell that Merus was wary of Temi.
“Indeed, you are correct. When I talk about why Dogora can’t use his Extra Skill, I bring up this story because this very thing has caused a rupture in logic before. And hearing about it means that you and your friends will gain knowledge that will lead to a situation that could destroy the world. This is why I don’t want to talk about it. What do you think after hearing all this? Do you still want to hear more?”
Dogora silently looked at Merus. His thoughts were clear from his gaze alone; he did not have to express them in words. The rest of the Gamers looked to Allen, who met everyone’s gaze one by one before finally looking at Dogora.
“Please continue. If we don’t know the reason, we won’t be able to save the world from the Demon Lord.” Allen gave Merus that answer for the sake of both the world and Dogora.
“Then I’ll continue. Lord Elmea brought Allen from another world. Am I right?”
“Yup. It was mostly by force, without really asking me what I thought.”
I mean, I’d just set up my character to play a game, but when I started, I became a baby in another world.
“Actually, just like with Allen, there was a plan to bring together those who had self-selected to come to this world from their own. Lord Elmea referred to this as the ‘Eight Heroes Plan.’”
“There are eight people like Allen in this world?!” Cecil suddenly shouted.
“Hey, whaddya mean by that?”
“Oh, I just thought that it sounded like a lot of work.”
Cecil had heard that Allen had made various requests to the God of Creation and that Merus, when he was still the First Angel, had been tasked with dealing with these requests. Doing so had always been difficult for him, and those difficulties would have only compounded if there were eight such people. Though Cecil thought it would be fun to have eight Allens around, she could only imagine how challenging that would have been for the Divine Realm.
“More accurately, it was a plan to summon eight people. However, when the first one, Sir Allen, was brought here, something unexpected happened and the plan fell through.”
“You mean how I almost chose the Demon Lord class?”
“Correct. Sir Allen was about to choose Demon Lord, so Lord Elmea quickly prepared the Summoner class instead. Since this was an eight-star class, we could no longer carry out the rest of the plan to call forth the others.”
“So, Lord Elmea had initially prepared Talents and powers enough for eight people, but they were all funneled into me?”
“Indeed. All of Lord Elmea’s power, which was originally planned to be distributed to eight people, was put into one person—Sir Allen. As a result, his actions thus far are all connected to this power.”
“No, they’re because Allen worked hard,” Krena, who had been silent until this point, rebutted. She probably meant to say that even before she had invited him to play knights, he had been trying to develop his Talent by throwing stones at trees.
“That may be so. Sir Allen’s actions have far exceeded Lord Elmea’s expectations. Some have even been so extraordinary that they border on insanity. In any case, only once every several tens of thousands of years does a demon become a Demonic Deity. Please understand that it’s not normal for someone such as Allen to be able to defeat one with such a crazy strategy.”
While his friends remained dumbfounded, Allen asked Merus another question. “Did the Eight Heroes Plan end there? What does that have to do with Dogora?” Allen thought for a moment, then added, “Ah, I get it, you came up with something else instead.”
“That’s right. We can’t call anyone with the appropriate aptitude from another world anymore.”
“And that’s why you brought all these Talented people together around me,” Allen said, having heard enough to understand their new plan.
In this world, each person had their own Talent, but humans’ growth when it came to levels was equal and limited. Most people lived their entire lives in Normal Mode; few reached Extra Mode and became what gods and Demonic Deities called the Liberated. Since that made it impossible for them to obtain the power to oppose the Demon Lord, the gods had tried to call forth people from another world who would choose Hell Mode.
Moreover, it seemed that just one person was not enough. Allen figured that this was why all these Talented people born in this world had gravitated toward him.
His childhood friend’s Talent was Sword Lord. The daughter of the lord of the land was born with the Wizardess Talent. At the Academy, he had met an elf princess and a dwarf golem user. These were no coincidences.
“I just gave you a hand to make it easier. If we overdid it, the Demon Lord Army would certainly have reacted. Everyone gathering around you was the result that Lord Elmea wanted, but it doesn’t mean you were being manipulated.”
“God wants me to fight the Demon Lord Army?” Cecil asked Merus.
“What you should do is up to you to decide. However, he probably thought that if you got acquainted with Allen and became friends with him, that would naturally happen. In the first place, even if we’d gathered eight otherworlders as originally planned, we didn’t know if all of them would choose to fight the Demon Lord in accordance with Lord Elmea’s wish, let alone if they would even be able to do so. Our plan merely anticipated such a possibility.”
“Then Pelomas’s silly Extra Skill, Libra, was also arranged for by God. In other words, it was fate.”
Like Krena and Dogora, Pelomas was a Krena Villager born in the same year as Allen who had been found to have a Talent. As they had learned at their Appraisal Ceremony, his was Merchant. He possessed the Extra Skill Libra, which allowed him to see the value of things based on current global standards.
“Was it due to Lord Elmea’s involvement that there were so many unusual people in Krena Village?”
“How rude. I’m not unusual.” When Allen said this, all of his friends, with the exception of Sophie and Meruru, shot him exasperated looks. Instead, Meruru’s face clouded over for a moment, and Sophie gazed over at her dwarf friend.
“Come to think of it, Pelomas is going to marry Fiona, right?” Cecil brought up one of the details she recalled about Pelomas.
“Mm, I don’t know about that. Viscount Granvelle said that Mr. Chester seemed to be enthusiastic about the idea, at least.”
Allen had kept a Summon in the capital of the Kingdom of Ratash to act as a liaison. Through that Summon, he occasionally communicated with Viscount Granvelle, Cecil’s father. Among the matters they had discussed was that the Pelomas Whaling Company was doing well and that the wealthy merchant Chester had finally given Pelomas his blessing to become his daughter’s spouse.
It was love at first sight when Pelomas had first met Fiona, whose father was the wealthiest merchant in the Granvelle fief and the owner of several luxury inns in both the Ratash capital and Granvelle City. Chester had told him that he would approve the marriage once Pelomas became self-sufficient, and so the young man had started his business while studying at a commercial school in the royal capital.
“Hmm. If that’s what her father said, then it’s pretty much decided,” Cecil said. “Did we ever talk about the wedding? I want to see Fiona’s dress.”
“Yay! Pelomas is getting married!” Krena shouted in excitement, and the rest of their companions nodded happily. During their time at the Academy, Pelomas had often come to ask Allen for advice, which was where they made his acquaintance.
Nah, Raven mentioned that Pelomas was firmly rejected.
Allen had heard from Raven via his Summon in Ratash’s capital that Pelomas was ultimately turned away by Fiona and that he had only recently recovered, deciding that he was going to refuse to give up.
Allen updated his friends on the latest development. “No. Even if her father has agreed to their marriage, Fiona isn’t interested. Not yet.” Though Chester recognized Pelomas as a proper merchant, Fiona had rejected him.
“Huh? Pelomas is going to the dungeon now, isn’t he?”
“That’s right,” Allen responded to Merus’s question. “Fiona says that she’s only interested in strong men, so he seems to be trying to become stronger by taking on the dungeons. Raven is helping him out.”
Besides, I already lent him some rings and equipment. For a fee, of course. Not that I charged Raven and the others brokerage fees, though.
Allen had introduced Pelomas to three adventurers—Raven, Rita, and Milci—who had helped him out in Granvelle City. The three were now affiliated with the Pelomas Whaling Company. It seemed that Pelomas had hired several mercenaries in addition to them and was diving headfirst into the dungeons. Allen found it very merchantlike to spend money on allies and equipment.
“Well, how nice of him to do that for the woman he loves!” Sophie said excitedly, her golden eyes shining as she blushed.
“Hey! Get focused, everyone! And cut it out, Allen!” the potato-faced Dogora yelled at the group, his face burning red. It was for his sake that Merus had said all he did, and Dogora remained quiet out of respect for his friends’ joyous occasion, but they were going off on a huge tangent. He could not help but be upset about it.
“Got it, but don’t glare at me like that, okay?”
It’s Merus’s fault for not stopping us. Anyway, how far did we get into the story? We were talking about friends, right?
In his heart, Allen tried to place the blame on Merus and get things back on track.
“Hmm? So you mean that you couldn’t bring seven heroes together in some village or gather up Saintesses and Sword Lords without being found out by the Demon Lord Army?”
“Pretty much. Anyway, now we can finally get to talking about Dogora’s Extra Skill. In truth, all of your Extra Skills are different from those normally given to an individual with your Talent, not just Dogora’s.”
“Did you choose a strong one?” Dogora butted in to ask.
“As a matter of fact, I did. There are countless Extra Skills, but they vary in power. For Dogora, I chose a particularly powerful one.”
“Huh? Then why can’t I use it?! That makes it useless!”
“Actually, Dogora’s Extra Skill is of the King grade.”
“King grade?!” everyone shouted in unison, as they had never heard that phrase before.
“There are many Extra Skills, each with different effects,” Merus continued. “Grades are roughly determined according to the magnitude of the effects and are named ‘General,’ ‘King,’ and ‘Emperor’ in ascending order. A person can be given up to three Extra Skills, but all three will not always be General grade, nor will the second always be King, though it’s common for the first to be General and the second to be King. To be more specific, all of you except Sir Allen and Dogora have General-grade skills, with Dogora alone having a King-grade Extra Skill.”
So I guess Cecil’s Petit Meteor and Limit Break are the lowest grade, then? Does this mean that General and King correspond to their Talents?
In terms of the number of stars assigned to a given Talent, there were many three-star Talents with “General” in the name, such as Talos General; many four-stars named “King,” such as Saint King; and many five-stars named “Emperor,” such as Sword Emperor. Allen was impressed by the rather unified system.
“Why am I the only one who’s King grade?” Dogora sounded rather cheerful all of a sudden.
“Because I aimed for a combination that would be useful in subjugating the Demon Lord. Lord Elmea insisted that there’s no General-grade Extra Skill strong enough for an Axe User.”
Apparently Elmea, the God of Creation, had had a hand in the changes to Extra Skills as well.
“Hmm? So that’s why he can’t use it?” Allen asked.
Merus nodded before responding. “There aren’t many people who have King-grade Extra Skills from the get-go. You have to be born with one, and that’s very rare. However, in order to master it, you have to acquire a certain amount of power. A person must spend the majority of their life training a single technique before they can finally use it as they please.”
It seemed that Merus had been watching Dogora struggle, thinking that it was natural that he could not use his Extra Skill. He commented that he was surprised the boy had activated it once.
“Isn’t there an easy way to use it?”
“There is not. Extra Skills consume a person’s life energy. You have no choice but to wait for the right time to risk your life and use your power, and that time may not ever come.”
“So I’m special? Is that what you mean?” Dogora mumbled with a serious expression.
Oh? Say yes, Merus!
Allen glanced at Merus, who sighed as he nodded. “Dogora. Helmios is empowered to hunt Demonic Deities. You have the power to do that too, but it’s up to you whether you can use it the way he does.”
Oh? Helmios too?
“Is Helmios’s God Strike also a King-grade Extra Skill?”
“That’s correct.”
Whoa, so Dogora also has a power comparable to a Demonic Deity’s special attack. Hmm? Wait...
