Hell Mode: Volume 7, page 12
“So you’re saying that the Hero has trained that much? That doesn’t make sense given what you said before.”
Merus’s earlier explanation had made it sound like something that required decades of hard work.
“This is why I didn’t want to tell you about it. Helmios has also been granted a special Extra Skill. He took his time to learn the General-grade skill first.”
A bit annoyed, he went on to explain how things like this could lead to a crack in the logic.
Apparently Helmios had two Extra Skills, which he had gained at the General- and King-grade Talent levels. Since he had mastered these Extra Skills one after the other, he could use his King-grade one, God Strike, whenever he pleased.
“Really? No way. We spent so much time together and yet he never said anything about that.”
“That’s right.”
“I don’t get it. What does this all mean?”
“It means, Krena, that Helmios has at least two Talents—a General-grade one and a King-grade one.”
“Whoa. That’s amazing. I can’t believe Dogora has an Extra Skill equivalent to the Hero’s special sword skill.”
Krena returned her gaze to Dogora after hearing about Helmios’s two Extra Skills and circled the discussion back around to him. He had been given an Extra Skill that rivaled or even surpassed that of the Demonic Deity-hunting, world-saving Hero Helmios.
“I have power,” Dogora said. “The kind of power given to a hero.”
“It’s a power worthy of one who is recognized as a hero,” Merus replied.
“A hero. I can become a hero?”
Dogora dropped his gaze to his hands, lost in his emotions.
Chapter 7: Following the Pillar of Light
After defeating Lycaoron and clearing out Teomenia, the No-life Gamers took a night’s rest in Neel. The next day, they headed for Rohzenheim to procure supplies to send to Elmahl. Allen had contacted the queen the night before and obtained her informal consent, and he and his friends were now in the palace in Fortenia to have her officially accept their request.
“The crisis of the Holy Land of Elmahl was truly precarious. Just as our country was saved from the Demon Lord Army’s invasion, the Holy Land of Elmahl should also be saved. As companions facing the same troubles, there shall be no limit to our assistance.”
“Thank you. I’ll contact you if there’s anything else we need.”
After Allen thanked the queen, the elven soldiers led the group out of the temple and into a huge warehouse. It took several people to open the huge doors, inside which sat a mountain of food bags.
“We have already secured enough food for the people of Fortenia to survive the winter. Please use this.”
There were many spirit magic users in Rohzenheim, and with the help of the wood, earth, and water spirits’ skills, they could easily produce food. Even with the elves who had taken refuge in the southern part of Rohzenheim returning as the reconstruction of Fortenia progressed, their food supplies did not go down. In fact, the spirit magic users were now gathered in one place and increasing their food production. Furthermore, each of Rohzenheim’s liberated cities was also being rebuilt, so even if Fortenia’s pantry were emptied, food could be procured from neighboring towns.
Incidentally, the Empire of Giamut was the largest exporter of food in the world. It had built granaries throughout its vast territory to keep its people, which made up the lion’s share of the world’s population, from starving while also accumulating as much as was necessary for war and exporting any surplus to other countries. In particular, the Empire of Baukis, which had little arable land, often conducted trade with Giamut, offering up its magic tools.
Rohzenheim, on the other hand, whose population was only a few tenths of Giamut’s, produced only what the elves needed to eat and thus did not export food. However, this was due to the elven tendency to grow and harvest only what was necessary without considering stockpiles or exports. If they so desired, they had the means to produce several times more than usual.
To start with, Allen chose a portion to send to the city of Neel. He called out to the elven soldiers leading the way.
“Please join us. We’ll be teleporting, as originally planned.”
“Certainly.”
Once the teleportation was finished, they found themselves in a plain just outside of Neel. Many priests were waiting on the spot.
“Ooh!” the group shouted in surprise and admiration.
“I can’t believe how much you brought! Am I witnessing a miracle?!” Cardinal Krympton trembled as he stepped forward from the crowd.
“We also brought some elves with us. Please listen to what they have to say about what kinds of food are available.” More than half of the food was grain, with the rest consisting of vegetables that could be preserved.
They’re probably so excited because even the idea of Elmahl producing food this year is a lost cause.
The entirety of Elmahl had been devastated by attacks from monsters and the daemonic incarnations. Though cities the size of Neel were surrounded by walls that kept the daemonic incarnations from invading until Allen and the others had arrived, it had been impossible for many villages, protected by nothing but wooden fences, to prevent the invasion. As a result, the villages and towns responsible for the region’s food production were hit hard, and the prospect of recovery was still quite dim. Considering that cross-border magic ship operations had been suspended and would not resume until the domestic situation had stabilized, there was little hope of support from neighboring countries.
Because anyone who was bitten by a daemonic incarnation would become one themselves in about a day, Allen wanted the survivors to avoid contact with these monsters as much as possible. As such, when rescue operations were completed, he would plant Gold and Silver Beans to create protective barriers in the places where monsters had been cleared out. They had been brought food so that they could minimize their excursions and instead simply wait for Allen’s Summons to wipe out the daemonic incarnations.
The priests expressed their gratitude. They were quite surprised since they had never requested such assistance, but Allen had gone out and done it on his own initiative.
“This should settle most of your issues. From now on, the number of Summons dedicated to exterminating the monsters will be lower, but rest assured that we’ll take care of all of them.”
Insect As, which were mobile and could fly around undisturbed, continued to produce Parent Beas and Baby Beas every single day. The number of troll kings and ogre kings that they had enslaved exceeded a thousand. Allen had also ordered them to escort the convoys that would be traveling around the Holy Land of Elmahl and distributing food to its cities.
“Not only did you save our capital from the clutches of the Demonic Deity, but you also left opportunities for future reconstruction. Thank you so much for everything.” The cardinal extended his hand toward Allen. The day prior, Allen had told him that they had defeated Lycaoron, eliminated the monsters and daemonic incarnations that were swarming around Teomenia, and set up a barrier.
Just as the cardinal was about to offer to help Allen in any way he could as a show of thanks, Meruru called forth Tam-Tam, Allen returned the handshake, and the Gamers made to leave.
“I hope we meet again. Of course, please contact me if there’s any way I can be of assistance!”
With that, Allen and the others boarded Tam-Tam, which was in Eagle Mode. Once the waving priests were out of sight, Allen visited Meruru in the cockpit.
“So, are we on target?”
“Looking good. We’re heading due south.”
From here on, the party would be chasing after the pillar of light that had extended vertically from the altar placed in Teomenia’s church and bent out at a right angle, shooting off into the distance. Off to the south was where they would find Gushara, the Pontiff of Daemonism.
“Can I go to my room for a minute?” Dogora called into the cockpit.
“Sure thing. I’ll give you a shout if anything happens.”
Dogora wanted to practice his swings and do some strength training in his room aboard Tam-Tam. On the way back from Teomenia, he had heard from Merus that he had a very special skill, and that whether he mastered it was up to him. Merus had also mentioned that his power might even exceed that of the Hero, inspiring Dogora to train even harder than he ever had before. He was devoting his whole self to it.
The rest of the Gamers spent their time in their rooms or relaxing in the lounge. Around evening, they finally reached the central area of the continent where the Union was located.
“What is that? An island?”
“It is an island. And it’s floating, Allen! Slow down!”
Cecil’s and Krena’s voices came from the cockpit, prompting the rest of the group to rush in from the lounge. Outside the window, off in the distance and farther up, was something that looked unmistakably like an island. To be precise, it was as if a piece of land ten kilometers in diameter had been scooped out of the ground and lifted into the air. It floated diagonally above the direction Tam-Tam was traveling in. Allen and the others looked up at its underside.
Tam-Tam had prioritized movement speed and avoiding fights with monsters by flying at a high altitude. Considering, then, that they could still only see the underside of the island, that could only mean that it, too, was extremely high in the air. The whole island was covered with something like a white, shiny film. Allen wondered if the color of the glowing membrane was similar to that of the pillar of light.
“What are we going to do? Get closer?” Meruru asked Allen.
“For the time being, let’s move above the island and head over to the other side. Don’t get too close to the film of light.”
“Roger!”
Meruru manipulated Tam-Tam’s controls, and the golem shot upward. Once higher than the island, it flew from the north side to the south. Meanwhile, the team returned to the Eagle Mode lounge and observed the island through the windows lining either side of the hull.
It’s pretty big. I wonder if anyone lives there.
Allen also looked out the window. The whole island appeared rocky and rugged, with no signs of life in sight.
“Huh? I see something,” Krena suddenly said. “It’s a castle.”
Allen and the rest of the Gamers gathered around her to look out the left-side window. Looking in the direction Krena was pointing, they could see a building on the top of a rocky peak that rose from the center of the island.
“A castle? Or a temple, maybe? What is it?” Allen saw part of the building glowing. This light was different from that of the film covering the island, however. It looked almost as if something were ablaze. Allen sent a picture of the scene to his grimoire, a feature that allowed it to record an image of what Allen could see.
“It doesn’t look like there’s anything else... Wait, what’s that?” Keel asked from his window running along the right side of the hull. He pointed out the window, at a piece of the glowing membrane covering the island, as Allen approached.
“Isn’t that the same pillar of light that was in Teomenia’s church?”
A pillar of light extended horizontally out from the film surrounding the island and shot off toward somewhere. Allen entered the golem’s cockpit and looked at the console in front of Meruru. On it, the surrounding topography was drawn with blue lines, while Tam-Tam’s position, orientation, and flight direction were indicated by triangular arrows drawn with red lines.
Currently, Tam-Tam was on the south side of the island. The pillar of light extended south from the island’s glowing membrane, though it might have been more accurate to say that it was actually extending toward the island from somewhere else off to the south.
“Then...”
“Yep. The incident must not be over yet. There are still countries that are under attack by the daemonic incarnations just like Elmahl was.”
Allen had a hunch that more battles awaited him and his friends farther to the south. In Teomenia’s Elmean church, the pillar of light rising from the tray Demonic Deity Lycaoron had referred to as an altar had turned at a right angle in the sky and headed south. And this island floated directly to the south of Teomenia, the capital of the Holy Land of Elmahl. Furthermore, a similar pillar of light extended horizontally from the southern side of the island toward the south side of the continent.
Based on this information, it was possible that the pillar of light emanating from Teomenia’s altar had continued toward the island’s glowing membrane until Allen and his friends had destroyed it. A similar altar might have been located off to the south of the island as well.
“Does this mean a country off to the south is being attacked by daemonic incarnations like what happened in Elmahl?”
“That’s not all, Cecil. We’ve only seen the south side of the island so far. There may be other pillars of light. Meruru, go around the island.”
“Roger that.”
Tam-Tam moved to the east side of the island, and once there, Meruru spoke again. “There’s one here too.” She looked out the cockpit window in the direction they were traveling. Allen saw a pillar of light, exactly the same as the one on the south side, extending horizontally from the east and connecting to the film of light that covered the island. When they passed the north side, where they had first approached the island, and headed to the west, there was a pillar of light there as well.
“There are three countries besides the Holy Land of Elmahl where these things have been happening?” Keel muttered, a dark look on his face.
The reason there’s nothing to the north is that we destroyed Teomenia’s altar. But there are still three remaining. Why did I not notice this until now? Is the situation just as critical in those places or was Teomenia a special case?
Perhaps they were asking for help from their neighbors but the news had not reached Elmahl. Or perhaps they had poor relations with their neighbors and had not sent a distress signal.
There’s no sense in thinking about the reason; the possibilities could be endless. The real question is what we should do next.
As Allen sorted the situation out in his head, he approached the cockpit window and tried something. “Hmm? I can’t Summon.”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Cecil asked.
“There was a templelike structure at the center of the island, right? I thought someone who’s involved in all this might be there and tried to Summon something up to check it out, but I can’t Summon anything within the barrier.”
“Perhaps that film of light is a barrier. You cannot Summon through barriers,” Merus, who was listening to Allen’s exchange with Cecil, responded.
In that case, Allen Summoned an Insect A outside the light barrier. “Bea, destroy the light film.”
“Bzz, bzz!”
Insect A heard Allen’s command through Tam-Tam’s window, approached the membrane of light, and extended a huge needle from the tip of its abdomen. Its stinger was so large that if a human were to be stabbed by it, there would be more than just a gaping hole in their body. The large needle moved closer, but then...
CRACK!
A bright flash of light temporarily blinded Allen. What he had originally thought was a popping sound turned out not to be true as he watched the Insect A careen straight toward Tam-Tam.
Meruru immediately manipulated Tam-Tam’s controls to avoid it. “Whoa, there! Allen, it looks pretty dangerous!”
“Even a Rank A Summon can’t break through this film of light.”
For a moment, Allen considered instructing Meruru to give Tam-Tam’s weapons a shot, but it would have been problematic if they were repelled as well.
“Hmm, maybe if all the pillars of light are destroyed, this barrier will disappear too,” Allen mumbled to himself while deciding on their next plan of action.
“It’s finally time to split the party up into three groups,” Keel said. He seemed to be recalling the discussion they had had when they were on their way to rescue the Holy Land of Elmahl. At the time, they had debated between going to Teomenia, where all the problems had originated; to Neel, where the call for help had come from; or splitting into two smaller groups and heading to either city.
“No. I’m guessing that there’s a Demonic Deity protecting each of the pillars’ altars.”
There were eight Gamers—nine if they included Merus. However, if they divided up into three groups, each would only have three members. They would not be a match for a Demonic Deity.
However, Keel held his ground this time. “There’s no need to fight the Demonic Deities. The priority is to help those who are being attacked by daemonic incarnations and monsters. Once we save everyone, then we can all come together again and fight.”
“That’s true. But the Demonic Deity might attack you while you’re saving people.” While what Keel had said made a lot of sense, Allen could not be sure that the Demonic Deity guarding the altar would not take an aggressive stance. But Keel persisted.
“Allen, please trust us a little bit. If a Demonic Deity attacks, we can run away or contact each other with a Summon and help each other out.”
Keel fixed Allen with a serious gaze. No matter what Allen thought, he looked as if he was going to fight to get his point heard.
Allen glanced at each of the other Gamers. Everyone had the same serious expression on their face as Keel. Apparently Allen was the only person not on the same page.
“Yeah, you guys are right. I guess I was just too concerned about safety.” Allen then considered a situation where he would split the party into three and prioritize the rescue operation.
Like Teomenia, all three places were probably filled with daemonic incarnations, Rank A and lower monsters, as well as giant monsters, to say nothing of the Demonic Deities. If they did not have to fight any of the Demonic Deities and could just deal with the monsters, splitting the party into three teams would not pose any problems. If a Demonic Deity happened to attack one of the groups or if they found themselves in a pinch while trying to save people, they could either escape with their Summons or await rescue from another team.
