Hell Mode: Volume 4, page 19
Findings Regarding Deputize This skill cannot be used on Summons more than 50 meters away.
After this skill is used on a Summon, it can be deactivated from more than 50 meters away if Allen is Sharing with it.
Only one individual from each type can be Deputized at any given time.
This skill costs no MP to use.
Findings Regarding Recruit There is no limit to how many Soldiers a General can Recruit.
Generals can only Recruit other Summons of the same type.
The Soldier position is revoked when a Summon is more than 100 meters from its General.
This actually seems pretty similar to Sharing. Hmm, so Soldiers have to stay close to the General. This is the biggest limitation to this skill. Wait, what would happen to Lil Antsys, then?
Cecil watched Allen with warm eyes as he continued to fully immerse himself in analysis. She recalled him acting the exact same way when they were going through a dungeon and he had reached Summoning Lvl. 6. In a way he reminded her of her brother, Thomas, back when he first received a sword from their father and had swung it enthusiastically whenever he had a spare moment.
“There’s some stuff I wanna confirm. Cecil, do you mind if I try putting the skill into practice?!” Allen whirled around, his eyes sparkling.
Cecil smiled wryly. “All right, go ahead.”
The other No-life Gamers also gestured to convey their permission from atop their respective griffins.
In the end, Allen ended up making his friends wait a full hour. By “putting the skill in practice,” he had meant attacking the several tens of thousands of monsters in the area. He used Bird E to scout out a group of monsters gathered into a big group, then made a beeline to them. Cecil first thinned them out using her Petit Meteor, throwing them into disarray. Then Allen sent in the Lil Antsys affected by Deputize that he had been so curious about.
I see, so the Lil Antsys created by General Antsy, Soldier Antsys, and normal Antsys all differ in size and stats. And I can’t use Deputize directly on Lil Antsys.
The grimoire made it clear exactly what the difference in the stat values were.
Size and Stat Comparison for Lil Antsys Spawned by Antsys Affected By Deputize (with a normal Antsy being 100) Antsy: 100
Soldier Antsy: 150
General Antsy: 200
Antsy’s Lil Antsy: 50
Soldier Antsy’s Lil Antsy: 75
General Antsy’s Lil Antsy: 100
“Your Deputize skill is incredible,” Cecil marveled, noting the marked rise in fighting strength of the large ants below. “It makes your Summons a whole lot stronger.”
The amount of damage dealt by the Abilities of the Beast-type and Dragon-type Summons depended on their Attack stat. The difference in performance between normal individuals and those given the General and Soldier positions was stark to witness, especially when they spammed their Abilities.
“Now I finally feel like we might have a way to deal with the Demon Lord Army’s reserves.” Just as Allen made that comment, his attention was suddenly drawn by the field of vision of the Spirit B who was accompanying Neftira. “Hold on.”
“What happened?”
“Ellie’s about to reach Fortenia.”
Ellie and Neftira were coming upon a massive walled city. After traveling for almost a full day without rest, the pair had finally arrived at Fortenia, the capital of Rohzenheim.
If I remember right, that’s the World Tree, right? So this is what it means for something to “touch the sky.”
As he observed the colossal tree towering over the entire city through the Spirit B’s eyes, Allen recalled what Sophie had told him about the World Tree. It was an object of the elves’ worship alongside the Sovereign of Spirits and their queen. Supposedly, this tree even birthed new spirits.
Just as Allen was musing on how much the elves prayed, Neftira and Ellie walked into a huge building. They proceeded straight inside, climbed a flight of stairs, then arrived at a spacious hall on the second floor. By the looks of it, this was supposed to be the queen’s audience chamber, which made this building the temple where the elves venerated her and the Sovereign of Spirits.
At the far end of the hall stood a throne. And someone was sitting on it.
So this is Demonic Deity Rehzel.
The man was lounging with a fist propping up his chin, looking every inch a boss. He had dark skin like Glaster and Neftira, vicious-looking horns protruding from his head, and blazing bloodred eyes.
“Lord Rehzel, your servant Neftira has just returned,” the younger demon announced reverently as he knelt a slight distance away from the throne.
Ellie followed suit from her position diagonally behind Neftira as Rehzel wordlessly studied his two guests.
Unable to bear the silence any longer, Neftira started apologizing profusely, “I’m v-very sorry, Lord Rehzel. We lost both the army and the fortress that you so graciously bestowed upon us. We have failed y—”
However, Rehzel raised a hand, cutting Neftira off. Despite being surprised, Neftira obediently fell silent and bowed his head.
Rehzel inhaled solemnly, then spoke. “I see. So you lost. I had wondered how it could be, despite all the forces plus the impregnable fortress I left in Glaster’s care. Turns out the reason is right here.”
He already knows that they lost Castle Lapolka? I thought we had taken care of all the eyeball bats. Do the demons have another method of communication?
Allen was doing his best to glean whatever information he could on the Demon Lord Army through Rehzel’s words.
“‘The reason is here’...?” Neftira quivered with fear. “Y-Yes, my lord, it was our fault that we lost—”
“It is indeed your fault,” Rehzel interrupted. “Turns out my subordinates are quite the fools. To think you cannot tell even when a rat is in your midst.”
Every single word Rehzel uttered was loaded with intimidation, shaking the walls of the temple.
“A...rat, my lord?”
“Indeed.” Rehzel turned to look at Ellie. “You—who are you?”
What? Is the jig up?
“My name is Ellie, my lord.”
“Not shaken in the slightest despite your situation, I see. You have been raised well. So, what are you, if not monster, demon, or spirit?”
Ahhh, he’s completely seen through her. That was way too fast. What a pity.
“What?! E-Ellie is a rat?!” Neftira whirled around, directing disbelieving eyes at Spirit B.
As Neftira and Rehzel watched, Ellie slowly stood and floated up to where she could look down on the two.
“Turns out there’s one among you with half a brain. I am Ellie, a Summon belonging to Lord Allen.”
Wait, what’re you saying?! Did you just give my name?!
“Well, that’s quite the insolent attitude you’re taking.”
“Oh, no, this is quite the correct attitude to take. After all, I am a subordinate of the man who holds the world in his hands.”
“The world, you say?”
Who, me? Hold the world in my hands? Since when?
Paying no mind to Allen’s protest, Ellie continued, “Indeed. This entire world belongs to Lord Allen. Rehzel, with whose permission do you claim the inflated title of ‘Demonic Deity’? Have you asked Lord Allen?”
“The world belongs to him now? So this Allen has characters like you under his command.”
“Character?! How dare a mere Demonic Deity say such a thing of a servant of Lord Allen?!” Ellie cried, her voice quivering with more anger than she had ever expressed.
“A ‘mere’ Demonic Deity. Hmm. Well, I think that’s enough from you. You may disappear now.” Rehzel shot a crimson ball of energy at Ellie from the palm of his hand. The Summon faded into bubbles of light and the feed that Allen was watching through Sharing was cut.
“How could it be...?” Neftira lamented. “Ellie was an enemy spy this whole time? Because of our negligence, the enemy now knows all about us and our strategies!”
“Likely so. However, there is no point dwelling on past mistakes. You have information on this Allen, do you not?”
“Y-Yes, my lord.”
Rehzel wordlessly stared at the fading bubbles. As Neftira apprehensively peered at his superior’s face, attempting to glean his emotions, the Demonic Deity suddenly burst into hearty laughter.
“HA HA HA! A ‘mere’ Demonic Deity!”
Neftira nearly fell on his rear from surprise. This was the first time he had ever seen a Demonic Deity laugh.
“It has been a hundred years since someone last said that to me. How amusing! Ha ha ha! I see, so that’s what it was. A Liberated has appeared!”
Rehzel’s laughter reverberated throughout the audience chamber as Neftira looked on, shocked at the word “Liberated” having come from his superior’s mouth.
Chapter 12: The History of Light and Darkness
The three days following the recapturing of Castle Lapolka were all spent hunting down stragglers of the Demon Lord Army. Today, the No-life Gamers were back in Tiamo after a full day of fighting for another strategy meeting with the elven queen and her generals.
They were quite hungry by the time they landed, but they prioritized the meeting over dinner regardless and headed straight for the audience chamber. There, the Sovereign of Spirits was still sleeping in the queen’s lap, shining brightly. In fact, he had been asleep the entire time since what had occurred the other day.
Look at him, still completely conked out. Is this like a chrysalis state for becoming the God of Spirits? When the time comes, will he transform or something?
Allen turned his gaze to meet the queen’s and gave his report as usual. The Grand Marshal Siguul replied on her behalf.
“Those were quite the numbers again today.”
“Yes, sir. I think we are getting close to not having to worry about being pincered from both the north and the south. I’ll mark the locations that we cleared today after this meeting, so please assist with the gathering of the magic stones.”
“Of course. We appreciate your good work.”
The elven army’s scouts were tasked with harvesting not only magic stones but also the monsters’ weapons and any parts of their corpses that could be used as crafting materials. The weapons would bolster their armory while the materials would bolster their coffers. In exchange for Allen getting the majority of the magic stones, Rohzenheim got to keep everything else.
Allen continued, “I have a bit of bad news: the Demon Lord Army has moved their schedule forward. They’re almost on Castle Lapolka. You’ll have to step up transporting troops to the fortress. My companions will help in any way they can.”
“Hm? Your companions? Meaning you...”
“Yes, I will be intercepting the force heading to Nest. They’re not as numerous, and I think I have a way to take care of them by myself.”
Thanks to all the Bird Es he had deployed everywhere, Allen knew the exact whereabouts of the two prongs of the Demon Lord Army at that moment. When the demons realized that the elves had caught on to their strategy, they suddenly kicked up the speed of their preparations. Judging by the directions the forces were marching in, however, it seemed that there had been no change in their plan to attack Lapolka and Nest.
Allen’s declaration that he would face the monster host approaching Nest alone left Grand Marshal Siguul and the generals dumbstruck with surprise. They looked to the boy’s companions and found, to their further consternation, that not one of them moved to stop him. The No-life Gamers simply stood up straight and continued looking at the queen, their expressions unchanged.
Back when he finished analyzing Deputize, Allen had already told his friends what he would be doing. The rest of the Gamers would be joining the 300,000 elves fighting against the three million monsters attacking Castle Lapolka while Allen would take care of the one million on the ocean by himself. After sending most of its troops to Tiamo, Nest only had 100,000 soldiers and therefore did not have the ability to mount a significant defense. As such, the monsters must not be allowed to even approach the city. This left Allen no other choice but to take care of the one million monsters alone.
“We’ll be leaving tomorrow morning.”
All the elves present looked the No-life Gamers in the eyes and decided to bet on Allen’s strategy once more.
“I see. Let me know if there’s anything you need,” Grand Marshal Siguul said as a token of appreciation.
Without hesitating, Allen took him up on his offer. “Thank you very much, Grand Marshal. In that case, if you could please prepare some food for us to bring on the road—all the cuisine in this country is simply delicious. Additionally, there is one thing I want to confirm before we leave. May I?”
All I have so far is purely speculation. I wonder how this would turn out?
“Mm? Of course. Ask us anything.”
“After arriving in Rohzenheim and fighting alongside the elves, there are two things that I’ve learned about your culture. For confirmation’s sake, Grand Marshal, your name is Siguul, yes?”
“Uh, yes. Why?” Siguul looked bewildered as to why Allen was asking about his name.
Allen started counting with his fingers: “Princess Sophialohne, Volmaar, Field Marshal Lukdraal, Sir Gatoluuga, And you, Grand Marshal Siguul—all of your names have a long vowel. And come to think of it, the name of the Sovereign of Spirits is Rohzen. Is this a coincidence?”
“Er, well, that’s just how our names have always been, down through the generations. We’ve always named our children so,” Siguul answered, completely in the dark as to where Allen was going with this line of questioning. The other generals and even Allen’s own companions looked mystified as well.
“Thank you for answering. Now, there’s one more person in our party who is currently back in her home country—a dwarf named Meruru. Her father’s name is Neneku and her mother’s is Kanana. I guess that goes to show that different cultures really do use names with distinctive characteristics.”
“I...suppose so?” Siguul was still confused, but he did concede that different countries had differing customs when it came to names.
“May I ask one more thing?”
“O-Of course. Um, did my answer to your previous question suffice?”
“Yes it did, thank you very much. Now, my other question. It’s coming up on sixty years since the war with the Demon Lord Army began. And Rohzenheim’s northernmost fortress is supposedly nigh unassailable and an architectural marvel.”
“Indeed, it has served us well for decades. Well, until recently, that is.”
“The Demon Lord Army attacked, so the northernmost fortress was built. This I understand. However, I’ve heard that Castle Lapolka, which is located south of Fortenia, was erected by a Grand Spirit User who appeared long, long ago. And now, here is my question: Why did the elves of the distant past build this castle? More importantly, who were they fighting?”
This question seemed so unrelated to a military meeting regarding the Demon Lord Army’s invasion that it evoked a perplexed chorus of “Huh?!” around the room.
“What do you mean by...why?” Siguul parroted back Allen’s question as he struggled to wrap his mind around the topic.
“Exactly as it sounds,” Allen replied. “During my time in the Academy, I learned the geography and history of other countries. According to my lessons, Rohzenheim has been peaceful for the past thousand years, having never been attacked by any other nation.”
Though admittedly, the Academy is run by the Five Continent Alliance, of which Rohzenheim is a major influence, and our headmaster was also related to the Rohzenheim royal family by blood. So I wouldn’t be surprised if there were dark parts of Rohzenheim’s history that were kept from our curriculum.
Almost all Allen had learned about Rohzenheim was about its system of government, its culture, its main industries, and the names and locations of its major settlements.
Unable to bear it any longer, the queen cut in. “Um...Lord Allen, what is your intention with these questions? I fail to see your point.”
“I’m very sorry for doing this in such a roundabout way. However, please humor me a while longer. It is true that I first came here because I was ordered to by the king of Ratash, my home country. However, I only think of his decree as the impetus. Now, I fight in order to protect Sophie and the peace-loving citizens of this country.”
“And for which, we are thankful from the bottom of our hearts,” the queen replied. “As you say, we elves do love peace and abhor war.”
Allen nodded in acknowledgment. “Now I am getting to what I really want to ask. The name of the chief commander of the Demon Lord Army currently attacking Rohzenheim is Rehzel. Does anyone here recognize this name? It seems to bear the same characteristics that normal elven names do.”
“The same characteristics as our—” The queen’s face paled. “Wait, you mean...”
“From what I saw through my Summon’s eyes, Demonic Deity Rehzel has dark skin and a ghastly appearance with horns and fangs. However, I also took note of his long ears and calm manner of speech, and a ‘what if’ arose in my mind.”
Judging by memories from his previous life, those long ears definitely indicated an elf. It was only when he worked backward that Allen noticed the fact that Rehzel’s name followed elven naming conventions. Of course, “Yagof” and “Neftira” did not have long vowels whereas “Keel” did, and each country on the Central Continent also had its own unique characteristics when it came to names.
The noise level in the audience chamber rose by a decibel as Allen’s companions also exchanged looks. He had not discussed this with them yet either.
Sophie asked, “Lord Allen, what is the ‘what if’ that you were thinking?”
Allen looked at her for a brief moment, then turned back to the queen. “Your Majesty, have my companions and I become complicit in a conflict between elves? Is that man... Is Demonic Deity Rehzel also an elf? If so, would anything come to mind regarding a motive that he, someone of the same race, would have for attacking Rohzenheim?”
