Hell Mode: Volume 11, page 12
Looks like this Onuba is the blade itself, or is using the same system as Freyja to speak through the blade while they’re in a different realm.
“C’mon, Bask! Just use me already!” Onuba roared.
And so, Bask reluctantly reached toward his back to grab the sword, which he then pointed at Dogora. A moment later, the blade that had been simply expelling puffs of black smoke from its ornate body suddenly began to transform, with disgusting cracks and squelches ringing out. One side of the blade had a gentle curve, while the other was jagged like a saw, its tip turning sharp and triangular. It had turned into a dangerous weapon of slaughter, capable of slicing, shredding, and piercing its prey.
“Jeez, stop rushing me...” Bask muttered. “All right, let’s kill!”
Allen heard that declaration loud and clear. He kicked the water to dash toward his friend a moment before the grinning Greater Demonic Deity leaped forward. Quick as a flash, Bask swung Onuba down, threatening to lop off Dogora’s head, but Allen just barely managed to stop it.
“Not on my watch!” the Summoner shouted.
He did not expect to successfully parry or tank a blow from the talking blade, and immediately launched a counter, aiming for Bask’s neck. The best way to stop an enemy from attacking was to force them to retreat.
“Hey! Whoa there!” Bask cackled ecstatically. “You gonna fight me too, Little Allen? Onuba, looks like you can feast on blood today! Heh heh!”
He smiled and kicked the contest stage, fleeing upward. Dammit, he’s too quick! And that’s not all. Every blow he dishes out is heavy and powerful. His gear is well-balanced between offense and defense! He’s got quick decision-making skills from his ample experience as a fighter and moves on instinct. Yeah, this guy’s gonna be a real pain! Should I ditch my initial plans?
Kyubel, protected by the Greater Demonic Deity that resembled a man and a woman, had already placed the dish on an altar and begun some sort of ritual with the black flames. Pelomas was still nowhere to be found, and there was not much time left before his Mimic effects wore off. But if Allen called Meruru and Merus here, he would break the delicate balance of power in the battle in the north.
Even if the front lines could be maintained, the Allen and Hero Armies, along with the First and Second Imperial Armies behind them, would suffer heavy casualties. They would have to rebuild their armies, forcing them onto the back foot, where they would be cornered. Was this all a part of Kyubel’s plan? Just then, the Summoner realized that Bask’s greatsword was approaching him with incredible speed.
“Watch out, Allen!” Dogora shouted, followed by a loud clang.
He managed to hit the side of Onuba, and the devastating weapon changed its trajectory, saving Allen by a hair’s breadth. The Demon Sword then jumped up to attack Allen once more, its path having formed a V. The Summoner instinctively used his orichalcum sword to smack the side of Onuba, causing it to dig into the jagged, sawlike teeth of the Demon Sword. Onuba tilted slightly and pulled back, shaving away at the orichalcum blade ever so slightly. Damn! This blade’s got a sharp tongue and body!
Allen turned to Bask, who had locked eyes with Dogora and was swinging his orichalcum greatsword around with ease. He wielded Onuba without turning my way... He’s a lot stronger than I thought. Thanks to that realization, Allen came up with a plan.
“Dogora, match my stride,” he ordered.
As Bask swung Onuba to his side, the Summoner crouched low to dodge the attack, then kicked the concert stage to swim above his foe.
“O-Okay,” Dogora replied as he swung his axes and started to retreat.
Allen charged straight in, bellowing at the top of his lungs. “Raaaaaah!”
Bask could not help but turn up toward the noise, but he looked genuinely exhausted when he saw Allen headed straight for him.
“You can’t even use skills, small fry,” Bask grumbled. “What the hell’re you planning?”
He casually swung Demon Sword Onuba up at the Summoner, and Allen braced himself. I should be able to endure one hit! He pretended to swing his orichalcum sword down, but instead, just as planned, swiftly brought it out in front of him to defend himself. The moment his sword was caught by Onuba’s jagged edges, he released it and used only his armor to tank the hit. The sawlike teeth shredded Allen’s armor, and blood gushed into the ocean as he was blown back. Owww! Th-That hurt! Even so, Allen had not been one-shotted thanks to the buffs he had received from his Summons—buffs that even his party did not have.
Buffs from Summons Rank B and Above, Aside from Stat Buffs
Spirit B: High Physical Damage Resistance
Dragon B: High Breath Damage Resistance
Insect A: Poison Immunity
Beast A: Increased Critical Rate
Bird A: Flight
Grass A: Exorcism
Stone A: Damage Reduction
Fish A: Boosted Evasion
Spirit A: High Physical Damage Resistance
Dragon A: Breath Damage Immunity
Angel A: None
1 and 9 give the same buff, but they do not stack.
10’s effect is superior to 2’s, so 2 is overridden by 10.
Spirit B’s buff, High Physical Damage Resistance, decreased damage taken, and Fish A’s boosted Evasion, ensuring that Allen would not receive a critical hit. And so, he was able to survive an attack from the Demon Blade. At least I’m not dead. Keel heals me with impeccable timing, so I should be okay. Because Allen had tanked a hit, Bask followed through on his swing, just as the Summoner had hoped. Doing so left the Greater Demonic Deity wide open to attack, and Dogora did not miss the opportunity.
“Heart and Soul!” the Destroyer roared. When he activated his skill, Kagutsuchi in his right hand glowed brighter than ever before. “Haaaaaaah!”
With a powerful battle cry, he swung Kagutsuchi in front of his chest from left to right, white bubbles trailing the red-hot blade. His target was Bask, whose body was twisted after his swing of Onuba. Dogora landed his attack on Bask’s left side.
“Huh?!” Bask cried.
He instinctively spun himself around, whirling Onuba behind his back with incredible speed. As the clean, wavy edge slashed downward, it collided with Kagutsuchi, with the clash of darkness and fire powers creating an explosion under the water.
“Dogora!” Allen shouted.
“I’m fine!” Dogora yelled back.
He bounced thrice on the contest stage from the shock wave, but managed to land on his feet without sustaining much damage. In contrast, Bask had fallen forward and was slowly pushing himself back up with both hands. A massive gash on his side gushed blood into the water.
“Onuba, you did well defending me,” the Greater Demonic Deity said, glancing at the sword in his right hand.
It seemed that the black belt around his body was not the only item protecting him. Had Onuba not rushed to Bask’s back to block the hit, Kagutsuchi would have sunk deeper into Bask’s body.
“You oaf!” Onuba roared. “If you hadn’t taken that pip-squeak’s obvious bait, I wouldn’t have had to clash head-on against Freyja! Shit, that hurt!”
Bask did not respond. He merely turned to Allen and gave a smug sneer.
“Heh. I thought you were a coward who just commands his friends from the back lines,” he said. “But you risked your life to become bait, eh? Not bad. Not bad at all, junior! Wait, no, you didn’t care as long as it wasn’t a fatal blow... Nice. I’ll copy that method myself! Ramon-Hamon, heal me!”
“Hmph, fine,” Ramon-Hamon, the Greater Demonic Deity that resembled two people, grunted in a feminine voice. “Evil Recovery!”
Right away, blood stopped leaking from Bask’s side.
“Oh dear,” Kyubel jeered as he stood in the middle of the venue, in front of the altar that was built in the middle of the flower’s style. “You used what little intelligence you had and gave it your all for this plan, but now you’re back to square one.”
Allen ignored the taunting remarks and replayed the earlier fight in his mind. Dogora’s in Extra Mode, so Heart and Soul is now a regular skill. It’s got a cooldown of an hour, so I doubt he can use it again... The enemy clearly knows our power. At the very least, the Demon Lord Army’s going all out to beat us. If I call Merus back here, the Allen Army’ll get slaughtered.
Allen knew that Merus was fighting hard in the north, making his way through the Demon Lord Army and cutting down as many monsters and Demonic Deities as he could. He was practically fighting by himself, and that implied that his temporary retreat would be even more devastating. Thanks to the Angel A, both the Allen and Hero Armies were able to fight in relative safety. Furthermore, Merus was using his Angel Halo skill to produce Summons in Allen’s stead, supporting both armies to the best of his abilities. His loss implied the loss of those Summons as well, and the armies would suffer drastically.
“Lord Allen, what shall we do?” Sophie asked worriedly from behind him. “As things stand, we’re at a disadvantage.”
She’s right. And both Blessing of the Sovereign of Spirits and Krena’s Limit Break have strict time limits. The former would last as long as Sophie’s MP could be kept up, and the duration of Krena’s Extra Skill was based on her MP at the time it was activated. Thanks to their new gear and class promotions, they were able to maintain their skills for much longer, but they still would not last forever.
By Allen’s calculations, both could stay active for another half an hour, but since Ramon-Hamon was capable of healing magic, it was possible that would not matter. Unless the Gamers could somehow dish out an attack powerful enough to one-shot Bask, who attacked with incredible speed, and Bildiga, who boasted an absurd amount of Endurance, they would be pushed back. The battle would end in their crushing defeat. Should I switch roles with Merus?
“Allen, has Merus gotten stronger?” Kyubel asked, breaking the silence. “I wouldn’t mind seeing him. It’s been a while.”
The Summoner quietly turned to the Strategist, who went on, “Ultimately, anything you guys do will be futile. This world will end soon enough.”
If something doesn’t change, the Daemon God will be resurrected, and Patlanta will fall along with us. Or so he’s implying. All the while, Bask and Dogora were having a conversation of their own.
“Heh heh. C’mon, Little Dogora!” Bask gibed. “You can still fight, can’t ya? Hyah ha ha!”
“Quit making fun of me!” Dogora roared back. “Freyja, you ready?”
“Of course!” Freyja replied.
Allen turned toward Dogora and saw his friend about to pounce on Bask. The Summoner gripped his sword and moved to help Dogora while deploying a few Summons to assist Krena and Shia in taking down Bildiga. Cecil, who was equipped with a Holy Orb, realized that none of her spells worked on the beetle, and changed targets to attack Bask. Unfortunately, however, landing spells on him while ensuring the safety of Dogora and Allen was difficult, and even when she did manage to hit him, she hardly did much damage. And it’s all because of that black belt that’s wrapped around his upper body.
Cecil realized that while Allen’s sword and Dogora’s Kagutsuchi could land a few blows on Bask by taking advantage of openings, they could not lay a scratch on the belt itself. Physical attacks were seemingly nullified, and it boasted high resistance to magical damage as well, leading her to assume that the belt was of the evil element.
Beside her stood Keel, who maintained the delicate battlefield while thinking of his next move. He was a good distance away from both battles—Krena and Shia against Bildiga, and Dogora and Allen against Bask. While Bildiga had hardly moved from his initial position, Bask swiftly moved from side to side, forcing Dogora and Allen to chase after him. In doing so, the two were distancing themselves from the rest of their allies. Only then did Keel realize Kyubel’s plan. The Greater Demonic Deity was wary of Allen’s Summons and knew that the Summoner’s range was fifty meters. Kyubel was their ultimate target, but Allen was being unwittingly kept away.
Time was not on the Gamers’ side. They were only just barely able to keep up thanks to the buffs, but once those ran out, they would be at a disadvantage. On top of that, Keel could not heal everyone quickly enough. Sophie’s water spirit could also heal, but she currently had her hands full with Bildiga, who would strike with his long legs whenever he had the chance, hurling globs of water at him to slow him down and protect Krena and Shia. It was then that Keel came up with a new plan.
“Luke, can you use Barrier of the Sovereign of Spirits?” he asked.
“Y-Yeah, I’ll try,” Luke replied. “Faable, are you ready?”
“Sure am. Leave it to me,” Faable replied.
Sophie and Luke each possessed their own Extra Skill, along with a second Extra Skill that could only be used when Rohzen or Faable were around.
Sophie’s Extra Skills: Grand Spirit Manifestation and Blessing of the Sovereign of Spirits
Grand Spirit Manifestation summons a Grand Spirit to attack, heal, or buff.
Blessing of the Sovereign of Spirits borrows the assistance of Spirit God Rohzen to raise allies’ stats by thirty percent.
Luke’s Extra Skills: Starvation Hell and Barrier of the Sovereign of Spirits
Starvation Hell borrows the power of a Grand Spirit to decrease an enemy’s HP and MP.
Barrier of the Sovereign of Spirits borrows the power of Sovereign of Spirits Faable to decrease enemies’ stats.
Faable, who took the form of a crab while in Prostia, was actually a black weasel and the guardian of the dark elves. She jumped out of Luke’s pocket, swam upward, and waved her claws around comically as she danced a little jig. Luke’s Extra Skill was actually Starvation Hell, but with Faable by his side, he could use a greater skill known as Barrier of the Sovereign of Spirits.
Purple mud began to seep from the contest stage. Enemies who stepped in it would be debuffed, lowering all of their stats. The Extra Skill’s range was a circle a hundred meters in diameter, and it had a cooldown time of a day. Luke had a two-star Talent, and his stats were not very high, but this was an Extra Skill conducted with the help of Faable and at the cost of all his MP. Its area of effect was rather large for his number of Talent stars, class, and stats. Still, it paled in comparison to the range that Allen’s party was used to.
Oh? What’s that? Barrier of the Sovereign of Spirits, huh? Allen was surprised by the purple mud, and he stepped away from Bask to check the skill’s effects in his grimoire. It was able to reach both Bildiga, who had hardly moved an inch since the start of battle, and Bask, who was still fighting Dogora, and the two Greater Demonic Deities were given a slight debuff. Bildiga and Bask are just way too strong, but hey, it’s better than nothing. Wait, what?
While Dogora handled Bask and Allen tried to think of his next plan, Bird E, which was circling above the battle, notified the Summoner that Holy Fish Macris was on the move. He was readying himself to fire his spells at Kyubel and the other Greater Demonic Deities. The Holy Fish opened his mouth, creating an ice needle. It drew in water from around it and began to grow thicker and larger, forming a massive, conical spear. Clearly, he saw Kyubel as an enemy and wanted to assist Allen and the other merfolk to protect Patlanta. Volmaar was not one to miss this opportunity either.
“Ice Javelin!” Macris shouted.
“Power Shot!” Volmaar roared.
A massive icicle spear shot toward Bask, and Volmaar unleashed an arrow that cut through the waters.
KABOOM! An explosion rang out when the ice javelin struck the contest venue. The shattered debris of the stage floated around, obstructing Allen’s view for a few moments. Macris swam down to the edge of the stage, pushing the debris away to reveal Bask, whose stomach had been pierced by the icicle, pinning him to the ocean floor.
“Gah?!” Bask coughed. “Grr... Allen wasn’t the only one sneakin’ around, huh?!”
Even the black belt could not block Macris’s attack, and Volmaar’s Power Shot, enhanced by Strongbow, allowed his arrow to sink deep into Bask’s eye. The Greater Demonic Deity angrily pulled the adamantite arrow from his eye.
“My, oh my,” Kyubel remarked, glancing at Ramon-Hamon. “I didn’t expect Macris to join in as well. A Holy Beast’s attack is troublesome, but you’re one lucky duck, Bask. Your new armor protected you.”
Ramon-Hamon nodded their heads and began to cast healing magic on Bask.
“Cease that pathetic sight at once,” Ramon-Hamon’s masculine head said.
“Healing you while you’re skewered will do very little,” Ramon-Hamon’s feminine head added.
Bask was finally able to remove the icicle from his body, though it tore at his flesh with grotesque squelches in the process. All righty. Now that Macris is on our side, maybe we should aim for Ramon-Hamon, pain be damned. Wait, I’m not sure I can attack them while ignoring Bask and Bildiga. Ramon-Hamon’s feminine head was in charge of healing, and Allen wanted to defeat her first to prevent the fight from getting too drawn out. But back during the battle on the Central Continent, that woman head was also able to cast attack spells, and the manly half approached enemies and ripped them apart with his bare hands.
Ramon-Hamon was a powerful foe capable of both physical and magical attacks. They were able to destroy Insect-type Summons efficiently, proving that they were at least as powerful as Bildiga. Even if Bask and Bildiga had not been present and Ramon-Hamon were fighting the Gamers alone, Allen was not sure if they could beat the Greater Demonic Deity. Way stronger than Gushara, at least. That guy didn’t have any resistance either, so once we destroyed the altar that was the source of his MP, we got to whale on him all we wanted. And this also means the Demon Lord Army is doing everything it can to resurrect this Daemon God. Suddenly, Allen heard the sound of hoofbeats. Wait, hooves? Underwater?
“I knew you guys would be struggling,” a familiar voice called.
“We’re totally struggling,” Allen replied. “Wait... Huh?!”
