Hell Mode: Volume 4, page 13
The Summon nodded in understanding, then slipped out through the wall behind her.
Allen was already moving to prepare for the next fight.
＊ ＊ ＊
The day after the second siege of Tiamo found the No-life Gamers ten kilometers to the north of Tiamo.
“You’ve already made a lot. You still need more?”
“This time, we’re the ones going on the attack, so we’ll probably need a lot more than before.”
Allen was, once again, making Blessings of Heaven on the back of a Bird B while sitting face-to-face with Cecil. He was continuously calling forth what looked like peaches with hands and legs, then making them use their Awakened Skill on top of a planter he was holding. The next moment, the Summons turned into meter-tall trees that then quickly bore fruit. It was Cecil’s job to gather those fruits when they tumbled into the pot and throw them into Storage.
Rohzenheim had gained 200,000 magic stones yesterday, half of which Allen now needed to convert into 20,000 Blessings of Heaven. The elves had been fighting defensively all this time, relying on their tall walls and fortifications. Going forward, however, they would have to seize the future of their country with their own hands, and doing so would increase the risk of dying to much higher than before. Blessings of Heaven would be critical to that process, thanks to their ability both to bring troops on the verge of death back to full health and to restore soldiers’ MP so they could maintain their damage output.
“You really haven’t changed at all,” Cecil noted.
“What do you mean?”
“Back when you let go of your mithril mining rights, you didn’t ask for anything in return then either.”
Back when Cecil’s family, House Granvelle, had been backed into a tight corner by a scheme arranged by their rival, House Carnel, Allen had relinquished his rights to a mithril mine he had personally discovered. While it might have seemed like Allen was always up to no good, he was most certainly very choosy about whom he demanded payment from.
At the end of that incident, the only reward Allen received was the official title of “guest of House Granvelle.” As someone who fully grasped her family’s financial situation, Cecil knew it was the absolute best that they had to offer, but it definitely did not seem like much in light of what he could have demanded.
“Well, there’s no point shaking sleeves you don’t have, right? Now that would be a waste of time and effort,” Allen replied.
“Is that a saying?”
Allen explained how this idiom from Japan meant that one cannot spend what one does not have, to which Cecil nodded in understanding.
Rohzenheim was currently an extremely destitute country. Seventy percent of its land had fallen to the Demon Lord Army, and many of its cities had been put to the torch. It was going to need many long years to restore the country to its former prosperity.
Giamut had realized this and promptly sent over foodstuffs and other supplies. By doing so, Rohzenheim would then owe them a deep debt of gratitude, one that Giamut could leverage when negotiating lower prices for the otherwise very expensive elven healing squads as well as to gain access to the previously unobtainable elven elixirs. This had been discussed at the strategy meetings held in Rohzenheim over the past few days. Since he understood the situation, Allen was gifting the Blessings of Heaven without asking for anything in return.
“Oh! A group of them’s come into view. There’s about 30,000 there, I’d say?”
The three Ellies have been flying since last night, so they should be arriving soon too. In the meantime, I’ll focus on raising my own level.
The Deputize skill was still sealed even though Allen was now Lvl. 63. He had no idea how high his level had to be to gain access to it, but it was not like leveling too much would be a problem. He decided to focus his attention on killing as many monsters as possible.
“Lady Cecil, may I request you open with the starting shot?”
“Indeed, you may.”
After having a little bit of fun playacting, Cecil stood up on Bird B’s back. She then cast her Extra Skill, Petit Meteor, signaling the start of the party’s hunt for the remnants of the Demon Lord Army.
＊ ＊ ＊
Much farther north of the Gamers was a different group composed of three Spirit Bs and one each of Birds F, E, and D. They were still pushing north at the moment just as Allen had ordered them to.
“It’s come into view,” Ellie murmured.
The squad had just discovered a fortified city built into the side of a mountain. It was missing many of the functions found in normal cities, but it had more than enough space to house 300,000 elves.
This was indeed Castle Lapolka. Allen examined it closely through Sharing.
It isn’t gonna be easy taking this place down. But once we capture it, we’ll have a straight line to Fortenia.
A carriage setting off from Lapolka would be able to reach the fallen capital in five days.
Distance from Nest, the Southernmost City, to the Rest of Rohzenheim By Carriage 30 days: Tiamo
40 days: Castle Lapolka
45 days: Fortenia
110 days: northernmost fortress
“This continent’s actually pretty big, huh?”
Allen had been told that Rohzenheim was an island country on the smallest of the five continents in this world, but its size was still nothing to scoff at. By his estimates, its surface area was slightly more than Australia was back in his old world. Considering how the Central Continent was supposedly three times larger than Rohzenheim, Allen shuddered to imagine how much trouble Helmios had protecting the northern battlefront.
Allen continued watching as the Spirit Bs discovered the castle gate. It was guarded by two Rank A monsters more than ten meters tall.
Ah, I recognize these armor-type monsters. They showed up every once in a while as Rank A dungeon bosses. They’re called great warriors, right?
Several of the eyeball-bats that had been surveilling Tiamo when Allen first arrived were now keeping a lookout in the skies above the castle town. He had never encountered them before in a dungeon, so it was likely they were monsters unique to the Demon Lord Army.
Thinking quickly, Allen told his Summons, Don’t go in from the main gate. And you might get spotted if you stay in the sky, so first land, then find a good place and just slip in.
“Your will is my command,” Ellie replied in a small voice only audible to Allen, then landed behind a mountain out of view of the bats. Because he had heard Lapolka was massive, Allen had sent three Spirit Bs so they could split up to cover more ground.
I see, so it’s packed with monsters inside the fortress walls.
Eventually, all three Spirit Bs had successfully slipped in through the walls without raising any alarms. The bird-type Summons remained perched in a tree outside to maintain their surveillance.
＊ ＊ ＊
The first thing the Ellies saw was monsters strutting about the fortress like they owned the place.
Many elves had lost their lives during the Demon Lord Army’s sweep south as they overran fortresses and settlements along the way until they even overtook Fortenia, the capital. The soldiers who manned Lapolka had figured that they would not be able to count on reinforcements even if they were to barricade themselves inside the fortress, so they had hastily abandoned the place and retreated to Tiamo.
And thanks to that decision, the place still functions as a perfectly adequate fortress. I see signs of battle here and there, but they’re mostly minor.
As the Spirit Bs continued wandering around, one suddenly met the gaze of a skeleton holding a sword. She gave it a brief smile and walked past it, but it did not attack her. It apparently did not perceive her as an enemy.
Phew. I thought it’d work, but it’s still a relief getting confirmation. My heart skipped a beat when Ellie met its eyes back there.
Back when Allen had learned about Rohzenheim’s plight at the Academy, he already figured he would eventually have to retake the settlements that had already been lost. Such operations went much smoother if there was a way to gather intel on the target location, and there was no better Summon for this role than Spirit B. This was why Allen had used Ellie only for communication purposes so far and had never revealed her in battle. All this effort was a ploy to keep her existence hidden from the enemy for as long as possible.
Sure enough, the monsters, who knew nothing about the Spirit Bs, saw them as allies just now. As long as the Summons did nothing to provoke the monsters, they had free access to the entire compound.
Good, that’s good. All of you, head for the biggest building. The leader should be there.
“Your will is our command, Master.” The three Spirit Bs obediently headed to the center of the fortress.
I don’t really see any large monsters. Makes sense, as this place was built to scale for the elves. It’s mostly monsters like skeletons all around. Conveniently enough, that makes the Ellies fit in even better.
Now that they knew they would not be attacked, the Summons proceeded with surer steps. As expected, the biggest monsters they passed were only twice the size of humans at most; gigantic monsters such as dragons were nowhere to be seen. This meant that there were mainly weapon-wielding skeletons and empty robes floating in midair about.
After checking out the city that was protected by tall, sturdy walls for a while, the three Spirit Bs finally reached the building where the boss seemed most likely to be staying. Seeing that the entrance was guarded, Allen ordered one Spirit B to walk inside and the other two search for ways for the elves to infiltrate this fortress. The monsters on guard shot Ellie a glance as she unflinchingly walked past them but they returned to looking straight ahead right away.
Okay, Ellie, first head to the kitchen.
“Your will is my command.”
Ellie wandered the first floor a while, but then quickly found the kitchen on the second. When she walked into it—her head held high so as to not arouse suspicion—a pig on two legs wearing a chef’s hat and apron came out and yelled at her.
“What’s the matter?! Dinner is still a while off, oink!” he roared, stunning the Summon a little.
Allen instructed her, in between hunting a group of deserter monsters and making more Blessings of Heaven, to act timid and claim she had been ordered to bring tea.
As ordered, the Spirit B hesitantly said out loud, “Um, I was told to bring tea...”
“What? To grumpy old Lord Glaster, oink?”
Is Glaster the name of the boss of this fortress? Or is it the one leading all the monsters currently in Rohzenheim?
Allen told Ellie to nod several times. When he saw that, the pig-faced chef snorted in a huff. Apparently Glaster was in a bad mood at the moment.
“I just made food for him, oink! No idea who got the funny idea to send him tea, but they should’ve come ask for it themselves, oink!”
Gah, all the “oinks” that he’s adding to the end of his sentences are so distracting I can’t focus on what he’s saying.
“C-Could I trouble you to make it anyway?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll do it, just gimme a sec, oink. By the way, don’t think I’ve seen you before, oink. You new here, oink? You sure picked the short straw being assigned to serve Lord Glaster, oink.”
Ellie’s acting seemed to have paid off, seeing how the pig-faced chef gave her a few words of sympathy while throwing together a tray with three cups, a teapot, and some snacks. Thanks to him jumping to conclusions, Ellie was going to get access to the big boss here, Glaster, much easier than Allen had thought.
This confirms it: the monsters can’t tell the difference between themselves and my Summons. After my Appraisal Ceremony when I was five, Elmea did say that the Summoner class still had bugs to work out.
Allen had given some thought as to how monsters differentiated allies from enemies. In this world, monsters did not hesitate to attack other monsters. He had personally witnessed orcs attacking great boars back in Granvelle. Similarly, during the night attack on the forces besieging Tiamo, he had seen many monsters finish off nearly dead allies and feed on their corpses. Clearly, there was nothing in place forcing monsters to only attack non-monsters.
The reason why the Demon Lord Army was composed of only Rank B and higher monsters was, according to academia, because those in Rank C and below were not strong enough to pose a significant threat to well-trained soldiers. However, Allen knew that a Rank C monster could still easily end the life of a Talentless soldier, so he had a different theory. He thought that the Rank B threshold was because that was the minimum rank at which monsters had sufficient Intelligence to understand orders and know not to attack each other out of the blue—at least under normal circumstances.
“Here, take this, oink.”
The chef handed the tray over.
“U-Um, may I ask which way I’m supposed to go?”
“Oh right, you’re new, oink. Go out, take the stairs you’ll see and go up to the fourth floor, then go straight, oink. You’ll see it. They just might kill you if you take your time, though, so hurry, oink.”
“Thank you very much.”
Propping the tray up with one hand, Ellie left the kitchen and followed the instructions she was given to find herself in front of a large pair of double doors. She slipped inside to see a spacious, dimly lit room. Several figures were seated around a table in the center, indicating that this was a meeting room.
Oh! Are they demons? Or Demonic Deities?
Allen was getting excited from what he was seeing through Sharing. At the Academy, he had learned that the Demon Lord had demons and Demonic Deities under his command. However, it was only through Helmios’s efforts that the mortal races first learned of the existence of these beings, so there was almost no information on them.
A closer look revealed that the one sitting at the far end of the table had the appearance of a man in his fifties with goatlike horns, dark skin, and purple hair. The expression on his face made it clear he was in a terrible mood.
Beside him was a younger man who also had goatlike horns, dark skin, and purple hair. This one looked quite troubled, probably because of how the older man seemed on the verge of blowing his top.
On the opposite side of the younger man was a bulky man who would probably be three meters tall if he stood up. He alone had the face of a hyena. It was hard to read his facial expression because of this, but unlike the other two, he had a calmer air about him.
Interesting. So these guys are demons. If that’s the case, does that mean demons can be classified between having dark skin and purple hair or being beast-like in appearance? Oh, was that chef earlier a demon too, then? He could converse normally and seemed pretty different from the average orc or troll.
“Mm? Who’re you?”
While Allen was busy with his thoughts, the older man at the head of the table noticed Ellie and glared at her.
This time, act confidently.
“Apologies for disturbing, my lord. I was ordered to bring you tea.” Ellie flashed an elegant smile.
“Oh, that’s a good idea. Lord Glaster, let’s take a break. You there, girl, give us all a cup.”
So the older guy is Glaster. Does the one who just spoke have a name too?
While the younger man good-naturedly prompted Ellie to serve them, the one with a hyena face stayed silent, keeping his arms crossed.
Ellie turned around with her back to the three to prepare the cups. When she tilted the teapot, a thick purple liquid flowed out.
What’s this? A smoothie? Is it healthy?
As Allen stared at the tea that looked the furthest thing from delicious, a bang rang out behind Ellie’s back.
BAM!
It was Glaster slamming a fist into the table. He had done so hard enough that his hand was almost buried in the wood.
“The report comes first, Neftira! We have to explain to Lord Rehzel in Fortenia why we lost the battle, but you’ve yet to submit your report! I was told that he could wait no longer and that he has already requested reinforcements from the main headquarters!”
“I’m sorry,” the younger man replied meekly. “Almost all the Rank A monsters are dead, so we’ve pretty much lost all control over our Rank B ones.”
Okay, so the younger one’s name is Neftira. And even the Demon Lord Army uses the ranking system when describing the monsters. But most importantly, Glaster’s last line... So it’s already been decided that reinforcements are coming. Considering how we’ve already killed pretty much half the forces in Rohzenheim, I guess it makes sense.
According to reports, the Demon Lord Army currently had four million monsters on standby. When would they be arriving? How many of them would be coming? Allen continued listening in by Sharing his Summon’s senses.
The hyena-faced man spoke up. “As I said, the Sovereign of Spirits probably turned into the God of Spirits, huff. That made the elves strong enough to beat us, huff.”
“I feel like you’re reaching a bit there, Yagof. It should be a while yet before the Sovereign has enough Worship Points. And even if he has been promoted, it shouldn’t have made the elves that much stronger.”
“Then what if the Spirit User was actually a Grand Spirit User, huff? Or maybe a High Tamer was born among the elves, huff? The reports mentioned giant ants and dragons fighting for the enemy, huff.”
“God of Spirits.” “Worship Points.” “High Tamer.” Words that Allen had never heard before were being mentioned in quick succession. He could somewhat guess at their meaning, but he could not fully understand them.
All these new words are making me so excited!
While still fighting monsters on his end, Allen tried to sort through all the information he had just gained.
First, of the three demons there, the oldest one’s name was Glaster and he was very likely the leader. The one who looked like him but younger and with longer hair was Neftira. Then lastly, the hyena-faced one who kept adding huff to the end of his sentences was Yagof. And Rehzel the Demonic Deity was the commander overseeing the entire force attacking Rohzenheim.
