Hell Mode: Volume 5, page 18
Damn, Genbu’s line of sight is almost a hundred meters in the air.
Fish B was rather heavy, even among Allen’s Summons. Despite that, its ten-meters-long form was now being lifted that high up by the steely jaws of a creature protruding from the sand.
“Allen, everyone’s running away!”
The adventurers below all had their backs to the giant creature as they employed various methods to flee as quickly as possible. Not a single one of them showed any intention of fighting the monster.
“Yep, they’re definitely running away from that thing.”
The monster that the No-life Gamers were approaching looked like a worm that measured hundreds of meters in length. All the visible parts of its body were scarlet, and sharp thorns protruded from its body segments.
“Oh, Genbu got done in,” Allen commented as a shower of glowing bubbles burst in the monster’s mouth and faded away. “Hmm, so that’s Scarlet Sandworm, the strongest monster on this floor. It’s huge. Good, good! Now this is exciting!” His chest thumped with excitement at the sight of the most massive monster he had ever beheld.
We’ll have to watch out for the thorns on Scarlet’s body, of course, but is its only method of attack its fanged mouth?
“A-Allen, what’re you saying? This is way too much for us to handle!” Meruru’s voice was filled with fear as she stared up at the overwhelming mass of the Rank S monster.
“No enemy is ever too much for us to handle!” Allen replied.
The group flew in closer until they could see Scarlet’s body in greater detail. The top end was all one big mouth, the inside of which was densely packed with disordered rows of teeth. This was what it had used to hold Genbu so tightly just now.
“Getting caught in that mouth is clearly bad news, guys. We’re gonna be using Jet now, so hold tight! Krena and Dogora, fly in circles around it while attacking its body. Stay away from the mouth; we’ll be the ones to attack it!”
“Got it! Let’s go, Griff!” Krena gave her mount a few gentle pats on the head.
After acknowledging the command with a sharp “Kiehhhh!” the Bird B accelerated. It flew around and around Scarlet as Krena unleashed her most powerful attacks on the sandworm.
“All right, that leaves the head for us. Cecil, I’ll be counting on you to figure out its weak element again. I’ll let you know when to use your Extra Skill.”
Allen had always stressed that timing was crucial for making the most of Extra Skills.
For now, let’s bring everyone back.
Allen called back all of the Summons that were out investigating rocky mountains. Even if they had gone far away, since Allen was Sharing with them, he could Unsummon them at will. Scarlet’s size indicated that it likely had a huge HP pool, so Allen was hoping to have his entire party attack it all at once to whittle down its health within a short period of time.
“Allen, it recovers right away!” Krena reported back.
“It really does!” Dogora confirmed. “What’s with this guy?! Our attacks aren’t working at all!”
The boss monster’s body was healing itself almost as soon as Krena’s blade passed through. The same was happening with Dogora’s axe.
“Got it!” Allen replied. “Looks like your attacks are at least hurting it, so keep at it. And I’m gonna keep saying this again and again, but don’t let Scarlet catch you!”
This is strange—it’s almost like this boss monster doesn’t have any Endurance at all. Is its regenerative ability there to make up for it?
Krena’s and Dogora’s attacks revealed that Scarlet had unbelievably low Endurance for a Rank S monster, but its healing powers were so effective that all wounds it suffered seemed to simply disappear in the blink of an eye. Even when showered in attacks by the entire No-life Gamers party, all of whom were close to max level, the boss didn’t seem to care or and be weakening at all.
“I find it hard to believe, Allen, but I don’t think Scarlet has any elemental resistances at all!”
So it doesn’t just have low physical resistance but magical as well?
“Thanks for letting me know, Cecil. In all likelihood, it doesn’t have resistances to any type of damage. Its Endurance is also super low. It’s the kind of monster that relies on its massive HP pool and very high recovery powers. You don’t get these often!”
“Instead of being impressed, how about having a strategy?!”
“I have one. Krena, use Limit Break! Everyone aside from Cecil and Sophie, match Krena’s timing and use your Extra Skills too!”
“Okay!” Krena activated Limit Break, then had her mount use Jet to bring her close so she could begin slashing away at the boss, carving away even more blood and flesh than before and drawing out more of the monster’s healing fluids.
The rest of the No-life Gamers promptly joined the fray. Allen also went all out, invoking Spirit Bs and Dragon Bs and having them use their Awakened Abilities before quickly changing them out, not caring how many magic stones he burned through.
Okay, good—looks like the pace we’re dealing damage to it has finally surpassed how fast Scarlet can heal itself. We’re almost there.
In this previous life, Allen had fought plenty of enemies that could heal themselves. He had learned that the only way to defeat them was to damage them faster than they could regenerate.
“Cecil, use Petit Meteor. Crush its head!”
“Very well. As you wish!”
When the moment seemed right, Allen gave Cecil the green light. A heat haze sprung up around her body as she activated her Extra Skill.
“Krena, Dogora, get away! Petit Meteor incoming!” Allen barked out a warning.
“Okay!” Krena shouted back.
Dogora also grunted, though half out of frustration at once again failing to activate his own Extra Skill.
“Here I go! Petit Meteooor!”
The moment the two vanguards fell back, a burning red boulder around ten meters across appeared in the sky. For some reason, even though this was the inside of a dungeon, the meteor was able to come down without destroying the ceiling. Scarlet had reared itself up like a cobra, allowing the meteor to score a clean hit on its head. The clash of the two gargantuan masses generated a shock wave as meteor fragments and bubbling bodily fluids scattered everywhere. The now headless monster carcass collapsed with a deafening boom, raising a huge cloud of dust and sand.
“We did it!” Cecil cheered.
However, no message appeared in the log on Allen’s grimoire.
Damn, so it didn’t die instantly. That means it might heal itself back up.
“No, not yet. It isn’t entirely dead,” Allen corrected. “Sophie, please use Blessing of the God of Spirits.”
“Understood. Lord Rohzen, please lend us your strength.”
“Ha ha, sure thing.”
On top of buffing the party’s stats, the Blessing of the God of Spirits also had the effect of refreshing the cooldown timers of everyone’s Extra Skills.
To the No-life Gamers’ dismay, Scarlet’s body spasmed a few times, then the wounds that had covered it suddenly all healed as more bodily fluids spurted everywhere. Scarlet even managed to grow a brand-new head. The sight filled Cecil, who had until now had immense confidence in her Extra Skill after the role it played in the fight with Rehzel, with despair.
“Don’t worry, guys. The fight isn’t over!” Allen called out reassuringly. “We’ve just returned to square one, that’s all.”
Thus the fight against the giant, grotesque-looking worm resumed.
About half an hour later, however, Allen admitted, “I’m afraid we just don’t have the firepower to take Scarlet down.”
“It...seems like it,” Cecil reluctantly agreed.
Unlike BB, they could hurt Scarlet. However, it always healed itself faster than the No-life Gamers could damage it. Even after the entire party—everyone except Dogora, of course—activated their Extra Skills again, they failed to fully wipe out the monster’s HP. They had continued fighting in the faint hope that the boss’s recovery speed might eventually flag, but it never happened. Even now, it stood before them looking unscathed.
“In order to kill Scarlet, we need to get stronger. I think that’s enough for this attempt.”
“Very well. Pity.” Cecil stopped attacking with a regretful face, and the entire party retreated.
Scarlet’s movement speed was not all that impressive. Once the No-life Gamers got far enough away, it gave up pursuing them and dived headfirst into the sand.
The No-life Gamers’ first encounter with the Rank S floor boss of Floor 3, Scarlet Sandworm, thus ended with their retreat.
Chapter 11: Joining Up with the Hero’s Party
Keel shifted uncomfortably under Allen’s gaze. “C-C’mon, don’t glare at me, man. This is good, right? Now we’ve got all the slates.”
“Who’s glaring? I’m not glaring,” Allen replied.
“Good for you, Meruru,” Cecil said. “Now you can call forth your golem.”
“R-Right.” Meruru nodded awkwardly as the hidden cube next to the party faded away.
The No-life Gamers were currently in one of the rocky mountain caves on Floor 3. During the roughly twenty days that had passed since their fight with Scarlet, they had been hard at work scouring the caves for monsters, treasure chests, and hidden cubes in search of golem slates. Although they had managed to find slates for the head, torso, left arm, and legs earlier on, the right arm slate had continued to elude them until now. No matter how many treasure chests they opened, no matter how often they traded with hidden cubes, they only ever got parts they already had.
Allen, who had been the one opening all the chests and talking to all the cubes so far, had started to fret about never pulling the right arm slate. Seeing this, Keel had come forward and said he wanted to give it a try. And the result of him talking to the hidden cube they had just found was the current situation.
God frickin’ dammit!!! This always happens! It always takes absolute ages whenever I’m the one trying to gather a full set of something.
Even in his previous life, whenever Allen did anything that required luck, such as gathering a full set of armor or upgrading a weapon to max, it always took ages for the conditions to finally line up for him. Apparently that curse of his was still alive and well in this world.
In an attempt to buoy Allen’s gloomy mood, Sophie changed the subject. “What should we do now? We finally have all the slates, but we can’t very well keep Lord Helmios waiting...”
It was almost the time when the party had agreed to meet up with Helmios. The festivities in Giamut celebrating his victory over the Demon Lord Army had finished, so he would finally be coming to Yanpany.
Wow, it’s already been two months since we last met in person.
“I suppose you’re right,” Allen said grudgingly. “It is almost time for lunch. Let’s call it a day for now, and we can check out Meruru’s golem the next time we enter the dungeon. Is that okay with you, Meruru?”
“Sure, okay! Thanks a bunch, everybody!” Meruru could barely control how happy she was about gathering all the slates she needed in only twenty days. After accepting the last one from Keel and fitting it into her magic disc, she hugged it tightly and burst into tears.
“Wha— No, no, no, don’t cry!” Keel said in a fluster, trying to assuage her.
Geometric shapes floated up from the magic disc in Meruru’s embrace, seemingly responding to her heightened emotions.
Oh! So it lights up when you put in all the slates.
“Aw, Meruru, you okay? Are you hungry? I’m also— Myuuuh!”
Krena was about to ruin Meruru’s touching moment by making it about her appetite, so Allen punished her by kneading her cheeks before he led the party out of the cave and to the open plaza. From there they returned to Floor 1.
It had been a while since the No-life Gamers last saw Floor 1. Of course, it was not as if they had stayed on Floor 3 the entire time since they fought Scarlet twenty days prior. Because the size of the Storage page in Allen’s grimoire was limited, the party ended up with a little more gear to carry after every treasure chest they opened. As such, they had to periodically sell off any hihiirokane and mithril equipment that they were lugging along. Furthermore, Allen had to register a new request at the Adventurer’s Guild every five days to purchase another hundred thousand Rank D magic stones for a thousand gold. After that, he also needed time to convert all those magic stones into Seeds of Magic.
Consequently, the party had agreed to stay in the dungeon for three and a half days out of every five days. That meant camping inside for three nights and keeping the remaining day and a half for rest outside. Allen sorted through their luggage during this off time and did his trading with the Adventurer’s Guild. The rest of the party spent their time however they wanted, including helping harvest the Seeds of Magic from the small indoor farm Allen had set up in his room, heading out into town, just chilling out in their rooms, and so on.
Every time they returned to Floor 1, Meruru would insist on drinking that night, so it had become custom for them to hit up a nearby restaurant. Perhaps it was due to having walked around in a desert for three days straight, but Meruru gulped down alcohol like it was water every time; the rest of the Gamers were convinced by now that dwarves would die if they did not have alcohol.
Just in case, Allen did keep bottles of alcohol in his Storage. However, Meruru was expected to act as a member of the Gamers during her time in the dungeon, and that included abstaining. In Allen’s mind, real gamers should know to always stay sober so they could immediately react to the situation, no matter what happened.
“Phew, we’re finally back.” Cecil stretched. When she noticed the direction Allen was walking in, however, she asked in a puzzled voice, “Hold on, Allen, aren’t we meeting up with Helmios at the Adventurer’s Guild?”
Allen held up an adamantite bow that was too big to fit in Storage. “We picked up a lot of stuff from treasure chests this time, so I was thinking of dropping it off back home first.”
After walking for ten minutes, the No-life Gamers approached their home and were greeted by a very unexpected sight.
“Hey there! Are you guys just now getting back from the dungeon? You’re a bit late.”
“Huh? Uh...what’s going on here?”
We were supposed to meet Helmios at the Adventurer’s Guild later in the afternoon today. I thought it’d be a good idea to meet up, since we’d both be frequenting the dungeon from now on... But what’s that got to do with the Hero moving a whole bunch of luggage into our base?!
There standing in front of the No-life Gamers’ base with a friendly smile on his face was none other than Hero Helmios. Behind him, dwarven movers were busily going in and out of the base. There were even a few adventurers with familiar faces among them helping out and giving instructions. Allen recognized these as Helmios’s party members.
One woman who had been directing all the movers noticed Allen’s group and came over. Seeing the dumbfounded expressions on their faces, she asked, “Wait a minute, Helmios, did you not ask permission for this?”
“Aha ha, I thought it’d make for a fun surprise,” the Hero answered, not looking sorry in the least.
When Allen’s brain had rebooted after blue-screening, he asked, “Um...are you going to live here too, Mr. Helmios?”
“Yep! Well, it’s not so much me as it is my party, Sacred. What do you say?”
The adventurers in the back started gathering around Helmios. Allen’s eyes fell on the woman with an exposed midriff who looked to be a Scout or a Thief. There was little doubt she was the one who had opened the door to the base.
I see. And here I was, thinking we had locked up properly. Wait, Mr. Dverg’s here too.
The Hero had around ten companions. Aside from Sword Lord Dverg and Sword Lord Sylvia, the female thief and the rest were clearly all powerful in their own right. They now watched the exchange between Helmios and Allen with guilty looks in their eyes. Their expressions indicated that this was not the first time they had been roped into playing along with Helmios’s bad ideas.
Looks like I don’t have a choice... You know what? I’ll just charge him more for rent, then.
Instead of asking them to leave, Allen replied, “I see. How about we talk it over while the movers do their work?” Just like Krena, he was also feeling hungry.
Helmios smiled. “Sure thing. I’ll introduce you to a place—I highly recommend it. Let’s bring everyone along!” He turned to his party and told them to get ready for a night out.
Similarly, Allen explained the situation to his party and led them into the underground storage room to put down their latest loot.
Leaving the movers with servants most likely working for Helmios, the two parties followed Helmios out to a major avenue.
“Here we are. This is the place.”
Seeing where Helmios was pointing, Meruru clutched both fists to her chest and cheered, “WHOAAAA! YAY!” She was almost more excited than when she got the last slate for her golem.
The establishment Helmios had brought them to was famous for its delicious alcohol, and the sounds of dwarves merrymaking could always be heard spilling out through its doors. The No-life Gamers passed by it often, as it was close to their base, and every time, Meruru would freeze and get drawn inside as if being pulled by a powerful magnetic force.
“Ah, I see.” Turns out it was a place we already frequent.
Allen followed Helmios inside while doing the adult thing and making a face that could be interpreted both as this being his first time here and him already being familiar with the place.
“Welcome!” the store owner shouted in a lively voice.
Like always, it’s packed full with dwarves. And the fact that they’re drinking here means they’re all powerful enough to make a living off of the Rank S dungeon.
