Hell Mode: Volume 6, page 16
Sounds like they need a leader to be chosen in order to keep each of the individual parties from teleporting in and out whenever they please.
Allen looked back at the Gamers.
“Hey, guys, can you give me some time to think this over?”
“Of course,” Keel responded. “Do whatever you think is best.”
The rest of the party nodded in response as Allen turned back toward the cube, deep in thought. It seemed a bit odd to Keel that Allen, who usually always seemed to know what he wanted to do, would need to take some time to think things over.
After a few moments, Allen raised his head and looked back at the party.
“Sophie?”
“Yes?”
“There’s something I’d like to ask of you.”
“Consider it done,” Sophie responded without hesitation.
“But I haven’t even told you what it is yet.”
Sophie looked back at Allen, a strong look of determination in her eyes. “After all you did to save Rohzenheim, I’ll do everything in my power to grant any request from you, Allen.”
Chapter 10: Forming a Party to Take Down the Final Floor Boss
In the month since they had taken down the mithril golem, Allen and the No-life Gamers spent their time fighting nothing but iron golems. These enemies spawned in pairs, and if one of them was killed when its partner was nearby, the partner golem would instantly bring the fallen one back to life. The party had taken advantage of this ability to give themselves an endless supply of iron golems to fight throughout the time they were there, and thanks to that, Sophie had managed to max out her skill level despite being the last to have promoted her class.
Moreover, the team was able to get their hands on some valuable gear and items that they had not been able to pick up on Floor 4. Ninety percent of the chests dropped by the iron golems were wooden chests, ten percent were silver, and a mere one in one thousand were gold. The rarer a chest was, the more valuable its contents were, and in the past month, the team had managed to open three gold chests. One of them had even contained a chunk of orichalcum. This was all thanks to their unconventional method of fighting endless iron golems.
They had decided to leave the chunk of orichalcum ore with Habarak just like they had the last time. He promised to make them the best weapons and armor he could as soon as the Goddess of Fire’s divine vessel was returned.
Allen also made sure to arrange for regular breaks during their iron golem runs. Today was their day off from dungeon raiding, and the party was out shopping. After he finished selling off his items at the Adventurer’s Guild, Allen collected his magic stones.
You can never have too many of these.
Allen was currently at Summoning Lvl. 8, but it would take him forty billion magic stones in order to level up his skill again. He was hoping to pull this off by using his three million Rank B magic stones together with his Equivalency skill to create Seeds of Magic. This, however, would take quite a bit of time if he was doing this while also farming for XP. Seeing as he did not know what the Demon Lord Army’s next move would be, he was not sure he even had that much time.
His strategy for fending off the Demon Lord Army involved using a large number of magic stones to create Gold Beans using his Grass A. Each Gold Bean required five Rank A magic stones, but through the use of his Equivalency skill, he was able to use any skill regardless of what rank of magic stones it required. With its help, all he needed to do was acquire enough magic stones to correspond to five Rank A ones.
Obviously, he would still run into cases where he needed a large quantity of magic stones, and he could never have enough Blessings of Heaven or Seeds of Magic on hand. At some point, he would need to increase Summoning to Lvl. 10 or possibly even higher, so he figured it would not hurt to store as many magic stones as possible. And now that he had Equivalency, he no longer needed to worry about the types of magic stones.
More importantly, however, Allen had recently started feeling the pressure of needing to increase his level.
According to Merus, his Summoning level would not increase as long as he still had sealed skills such as King Me. When he thought about it, he remembered that magic-based classes also had limits on the magic they could learn that were dependent upon their level and unrelated to their Intelligence stat. Allen was surprised to hear that Summoners were similar in that respect and was all the more driven to gain experience.
Back when he was a serf, money had been the most important thing to him. But nowadays, at the age of fifteen, that had changed to magic stones—without them, he was nothing. Clearly, his needs changed as he grew older and his environment changed.
While he was able to farm a lot of experience from the iron golems, Allen still recalled how, during their battle in Rohzenheim, the Greater Demonic Deity Kyubel had mentioned something about the Demonic Deities coming out to play sometime. To a certain extent, he wanted to battle the Demonic Deities both to get a sense for how strong they had become and to help boost their levels. Alas, no attack ever came.
There has to be a Demonic Deity out there somewhere, though, right? Maybe lurking as a tourist or something out in the world?
Cecil’s voice brought Allen back to reality. “Hey, Allen, aren’t we going shopping?”
“Oh, uh, right. We need to pick up some alcohol and meat. Let’s get going.”
At the butcher shop, they bought some large chunks of bone-in meat the likes of which Allen had only ever seen in his past life in manga. They also purchased three barrels of fine liquor from the liquor shop.
“Is three going to be enough?” Keel asked as Dogora, Krena, and Allen each carried a barrel.
“Hmm... It might be a little on the low side, but hey, if we run out, we can always go back out for more. The liquor shop is open late, anyway.”
Back at their base, the party went about cleaning up the dining room. The hall itself was large enough to hold thirty people with room to spare, but they still needed to clear out some space for the night’s event. To that end, they moved all the furniture they would not be using to relax into a corner and took some of the sofas out to the garden. Admiral Garara silently glared up at Allen, drink in hand, from one of the sofas left in the dining room.
Rosetta looked around the room in surprise. “Oh? What are you up to?”
Allen had not explained his plan for the evening to anyone outside of the Gamers yet. Looking up at the magic clock, he realized they had spent quite a bit of time simply cleaning up.
“Prince Zeu will be here shortly, so I’ll explain then.”
“I see. Well then, I’ll be looking forward to it.”
A short time later, Helmios arrived with his party, Sacred, and they all began helping out with the food and drink preparations. When they were nearly finished, one of Helmios’s servants who helped oversee the base entered the room.
“Beast Prince Zeu has arrived.”
After making his announcement, the servant left the room. He returned soon after with Uru and Sara in tow, followed a short time later by Zeu himself.
Zeu looked over the food lining the table. “My, it appears we’ve been greeted by yet another splendid feast.”
“Ah, welcome, Your Highness. You’re a bit early, it seems, but please sit down over there.”
Allen directed the prince to a sofa not occupied by Garara.
Go ahead and kick back for a bit.
Zeu leaned deep into the sofa. “And what, may I ask, is the reason for asking me here?”
Allen had not provided a specific reason with his invitation. Though it was practically unheard of to invite a head of state in such a manner, the fact that he came at all spoke to the prince’s strong sense of duty.
Once all the attendees were present, Allen made sure everyone had a drink in hand before beginning to speak.
“Today, we are gathered here to celebrate our decision to battle the final floor boss.”
“Ooh, so you’re going to fight it?!”
Zeu hopped up from the sofa in excitement. He had been keeping tabs on the progress of Allen’s attempt to clear the dungeon, both through the stories he had heard from Uru and by visiting the base on his own, though he had still been in the dark about when the Gamers planned on actually doing it.
Admiral Garara was still in his usual foul mood. “Hmph, so’s that what all this fuss’s about?”
Helmios took a swig from his wooden stein. “Best of luck to you. It’s gonna be a hard fight.”
“There’s something I’d like to ask of you, Helmios. I’d like Sacred to join us in the battle.”
“Huh? You want us to join your party?”
“Not quite. You see, up to four parties and a maximum of fifty people can battle the final floor boss.”
Allen went on to explain the information he had learned on Floor 5. All the while, Admiral Garara fixed him with a steely glare.
“Huh, is that so?” Helmios mumbled after listening to Allen’s story.
“Yep. You need to collect three types of medals in order to be teleported to the final floor boss, and one full set of three will allow one party to join the fight. We’ll take care of collecting as many as we need. Now, the first time the final floor boss is defeated, we’ll receive one special reward in addition to three regular ones. All I want is the special reward for being the first to defeat the boss, so you can split up the rest.”
“Do you have any idea how powerful the final floor boss is?” The usual cheerful expression was nowhere to be found on Helmios’s face.
You can definitely tell he’s the leader. This is the role he needs to play for his friends who rely on him.
“As best as I can guess, it’s probably several times as strong and difficult as each of the bronze, iron, and mithril golems.”
“What?!” Rosetta could barely contain her surprise. “And you want to take that thing on?!”
“That’s why I’m asking for your guys’ help.”
Helmios nodded.
“Even if we weren’t going to join, I imagine you’d take it on all on your own, huh, Allen?”
“I’m afraid I’m not following. Could you please explain what it is that you’re doing?” Zeu asked.
Since the members making up Zeu’s party changed each time they entered the dungeon, they usually traveled between Floors 2 and 4 depending on its composition. For that reason, they had no concept of how strong a Rank S monster was and had a hard time grasping the situation.
Allen went on to explain how the three golems on Floor 5 were more powerful than the floor bosses located on Floors 2 through 4 and how he believed that the final floor boss would be several times stronger than the golems.
“Only one party can enter a death stage or any of the golem zones. However, in the case of the final floor boss’s zone, up to four parties can enter. I can’t speak too generally since there are some parties with up to twenty or thirty members each, but considering the number of parties allowed, I figure we’ll need about four times our fighting ability to battle it.”
“What kind of trials are you subjecting us to?” There was a mixture of sadness and anger in Zeu’s voice.
“Hmm, I think I’d like some more information. Assuming Sacred were to join you, what do you think our odds of success are?” Helmios asked.
“Well, if Sacred were to join us, I figure we have about a fifty-fifty chance.”
Everyone in the room—shy of Helmios and Garara—let out gasps of surprise at this. Apparently, even if Hero Helmios and his party joined Allen and his friends, who had made it all the way to the final floor boss, Allen still placed their odds of success at fifty percent.
“I see.”
“However, if things get too dangerous, we can escape and reevaluate if we want to try again.”
Fortunately, Allen was great at making an escape by using his Summons as decoys.
“Got it. In that case, I’d like to join you. What do you think, everyone?”
Helmios met the gaze of each member of his team in turn, confirming their desire. Each member nodded, with Rosetta giving him a wink.
“Of course I’ll go with you.”
“Why not?”
“Thank you.”
“Besides, the emperor told us to be nice to you guys.”
They’re all being pretty casual about it. Then again, that’s pretty much what I expected. Besides, they haven’t been back to Giamut in a while.
Allen figured that, after passing along the Gold and Silver Beans, the team must have been told to try to get along with Allen and the Gamers. And just like that, Helmios’s group would join Allen’s party in taking on the final floor boss.
Now that it was decided that Sacred would also join the battle against the final floor boss, Zeu spoke up with renewed interest. “So you’re going to assemble the might of the Central Continent to take on the enemy?”
“No, not quite. I also plan to have Admiral Garara’s party, Stinger, join us.”
Garara exploded at this. “What?! Just what’re ye planning?!”
“Isn’t that why you’ve spent the past three months here, Admiral?”
“No way!”
“Oh, really?” Allen continued in a casual tone. “Looks like my theory was pretty far off the mark, then.”
“What’re ye going on about?!”
“Well, I just figured that the reason you were angry was because you’d decided to take on the final floor boss with your party alone, resulting in the loss of some of your friends. Therefore, you’ve been coming here to our base waiting for an opportunity to take the boss on again.”
Allen originally thought that the admiral had been coming here since October because he was upset at having lost his comrades due to the unreasonable task requested of him by the empire. However, upon collecting all the medals on Floor 5 and hearing the conditions for taking on the final floor boss, he realized that he had been mistaken. Admiral Garara must have also known that up to four parties and fifty members total could take on the final floor boss.
“Why ye little...” The admiral’s words trailed off.
“Admiral, now’s your chance to fight it again, together with Helmios and us.”
However, the admiral objected once more, his tone of voice gruff.
“Hah?! Just what kinda casual invitation is this?! There’s no way I can invite my men back t’ join me! D’you have any idea how many of ’em died?!”
“Is that so?”
“O’ course it is! No doubt they all realize they lost their friends ’cause o’ my poor decision-making!”
Half confessionally, half regretfully, the admiral practically spat out all the dark feelings that had taken hold of him. He had caused the death of his comrades as a result of his overconfidence and underestimation of their opponent’s strength, and now he was beating himself up over it. Whenever he thought of his men, he was unable to cope with the burden on him due to his own actions. He found solace in the bottle, all the while harassing Allen and Dogora in an attempt to turn a blind eye to his own actions.
“Is that really the case, though?”
As soon as Allen finished speaking, Meruru left her place in the hallway to guide the guests from the second floor into the dining room.
“Admiral...”
It was the surviving thirteen members of Stinger, Admiral Garara’s party.
“Wh-What’re ye doing here?”
For the first time in forever, Admiral Garara dropped his ever-present stein of liquor from the shock of seeing his men. The beer spilled out, soaking Garara’s shoes, but he did not seem to notice.
One of the dwarves spoke up, tears rolling down his cheeks as he choked back sobs. “Meruru and Allen invited us. Since Helmios and Sacred will be joining them, they invited us to take on the dungeon as well. We figured this is the only way we can move forward.”
“Huh, so this was your plan, then.”
Helmios offered up a wry smile. It put him in a bit of a rough spot since Allen had promised the members of Stinger that Sacred would be joining before even asking him, but the moment he found out that the dwarves were waiting upstairs, he had seen through Allen’s plan.
“Only way forward, huh.”
“That’s right. We can’t bear to see you like this, Admiral. We want to see your old self again, raring for a challenge to take down the dungeon. Please, sir!”
“Ye’re really puttin’ me in quite a spot here.”
Admiral Garara raised his head and looked between Allen and Helmios, and then their respective parties. He then cradled his head, opening and closing his mouth silently as he debated the idea of joining in the assault on the final floor boss.
All right, it looks like he’s back to thinking of himself as a leader.
Finally, Garara’s gaze settled on Allen.
“All right, Allen. I’ll join ye in the battle ’gainst the final floor boss. Or rather, please let us join ye.”
“Of course.”
“But first, I’d like ye t’ promise one thing, though it’s by no means a condition fer us joining.”
“Huh? Well, I won’t give up the reward for being the first to clear it.”
“No, it’s not that. Ye said that wi’ yer and Helmios’s parties, ye stand a fifty-fifty chance at victory. That means ye still can’t be sure of success even wi’ us joining, right?”
“That’s true.”
“If things go wrong. I want ye t’ ensure that everyone gets out safely. I’ll use my superpowered form t’ hold up the rear.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll act as a decoy so ye can get all thirteen of my men outta there.”
“A-Admiral...”
“Shaddap, you!”
“I see. So that’s your responsibility as the party leader.”
“That’s right.”
“Hmm, I see. But you know, in that case, I’m the one who brought everyone together to fight the final floor boss. In that sense, I’m the leader and thus responsible for staying behind to ensure that all parties escape.”
