Hell Mode: Volume 5, page 20
This doesn’t make sense. Royalty should only have a one-star Talent at best. How did the Hero lose? Hold on. Is the rule that royalty only get one-star Talents applicable only to humans?
Allen thought he had both gotten closer to and further from a principle of this world at the same time. It was a very strange feeling.
“So in short, the Beast King’s strength is specialized for fighting against people.”
“You can say that. I mean, I don’t say this as an excuse, but he was so fast my eyes honestly couldn’t keep up.”
So, his greatest strength is his speed. Being faster than the Hero is no joke.
“What does this all mean, Allen?” Cecil asked.
“In all likelihood, the Beast King’s Status is exceptionally well suited for hand-to-hand combat, with an emphasis on speed,” Allen replied. “In contrast, Mr. Helmios’s Status is probably pretty even across the board. He lost because he couldn’t land his attacks on the Beast King.”
No matter the world, it’s common sense that the Hero is a balanced fighter who’s a jack-of-all-trades. Hmm, the fact that even Baukis protested means Admiral Garara is likely at least as strong as Helmios. That probably takes his golem into account, but even so, there’s a definite reason he’s known as the strongest in Baukis.
“Yep, that’s pretty much it.” Helmios nodded.
Everyone else at the table was focused on Allen as he thoughtfully listened to Helmios’s account. All of them knew what Allen had done during the war in Rohzenheim several months ago. Some looked at Allen with wary eyes, feeling threatened by the fact that he had achieved so much despite being a whole generation younger than the Hero.
“What is the meaning of the last thing you said to Beast King Zeu? You offered him your help, but it sounded like you were referring to something bigger.”
“Oh, that. Hmm...”
Seeing Helmios’s hesitation, Allen added, “If you can’t tell me, I won’t press it, of course.”
Is it tied to Giamutan politics?
“No, that’s not... Well, you’ve been a huge help to me, and seeing how many Ratashians there are in your party, I should probably tell you this. Problem is, I’m not very good at drawing the line between what I’m supposed to say and what I’m supposed to keep secret.”
Sword Lord Sylvia cut in. “You should probably tell Allen. I’m sure he’ll help out.”
I haven’t promised anything, though. How can she sound so sure?
“Well, all right then.” Helmios sighed. “If the current Beast King is dethroned, there is talk that the Country of Beastkin would invade the Central Continent.”
Allen choked on his food. “Wait, what?! Mr. Helmios, what’re you saying?! What about the Five Continent Alliance?!”
“As things stand, it’s probably Beast Crown Prince Beku who’d succeed the throne. If he does, Albahal will definitely withdraw from the Alliance. And they’ll probably attack at the same time the Demon Lord Army does.”
“Wh-Why?! Why would they do that?!” Cecil’s voice caught in her throat. When she looked at Helmios and his companions, however, she found all of them with a straight face.
The gears were turning furiously in Allen’s head as he asked, “They never mentioned this in our classes at the Academy, but has Albahal ever attacked the Central Continent before?”
“Not since the Demon Lord Army appeared,” Helmios replied, “but yes, a few times since Albahal became independent more than a thousand years ago.”
Long ago, the beastkin had suffered severe persecution at the hands of Giamut. The grudge from back then had not faded a shade, even after a millennium. The beastkin were ready to attack at the drop of a hat should their king call for it.
Understanding dawned on Allen’s face. “That’s why you mentioned us being Ratashian.”
“Huh?” Cecil, who did not quite get it yet, frowned. “How’s that relevant?”
Helmios nodded. “That’s right. If the Country of Beastkin attacks in earnest, they’ll probably eat up the entire southern third of the Central Continent. Especially if they attacked at the same time as the Demon Lord Army.”
Ohhhh, so that’s why Giamut has allowed small countries like Ratash to continue existing right next door.
Allen finally got the answer for something that he had been wondering about for years.
“What did you understand, Allen?! Tell me!”
“In all likelihood, for the past thousand years, Giamut has been keeping Ratash as a wall to protect its own citizens in case of an invasion by Albahal.”
The Empire of Giamut occupied the northern two-thirds of the Central Continent. The remaining one-third in the south was composed of a bunch of small countries that the beastkin would have to go through first to reach Giamut, one of which was Ratash. During the time the beastkin were occupied with these countries, Giamut would mobilize its own forces to protect its own border.
“So, Mr. Helmios, are you saying that this can be avoided if Beast Prince Zeu is the one who takes the throne next?”
“Yep. That’s why Giamut wants it to be him. There are voices calling for it to be the War Princess too, but either way, the point is that things should be fine as long as it isn’t Beast Crown Prince Beku.”
He did come to thank me for saving his brethren even though I’m human.
“Who’s the War Princess?”
“Word is that the youngest child of the current Beast King, the Beast Princess, has an outstanding personality and is gifted in battle. I’ve never met her before, though. Speaking of which, I haven’t heard anything about her recently.”
Apparently even the Hero could not tread far into Albahalan affairs so easily.
In short, this world isn’t made up of countries all at peace, holding hands as friends and all that. Though I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise, what with the history between the elves and dark elves.
Allen thought back to Demonic Deity Rehzel, who had been a dark elf. As it turned out, this world under threat by a Demon Lord was quite a lot more chaotic than he had known.
Chapter 12: Golem, Come Forth!
Allen had just learned about the bad blood between the Country of Beastkin and the Central Continent and of how the millions-strong population of beastkin had actually attacked multiple times in the past. They might have currently been part of the Five Continent Alliance, but they remained a lurking threat to the Central Continent. Allen suspected this was why, of the two southern continents, the Demon Lord Army had never attacked the one where the beastkin lived. Naturally, Allen had come to prefer that Beast Prince Zeu, who seemed open to being on friendly terms with the Central Continent, become the next Beast King. Allen very much wanted to talk things out with him, given the opportunity, and find a path toward resolution.
The way Allen saw it, there was plenty that could be done before the worst-case scenario came to pass. However, if Albahal really became dead set on attacking the southern Central Continent, then Allen was ready to become a Demon Lord himself—whatever he had to in order to protect the village and country where his family lived, even if it meant wiping out every last beastkin in existence. When the words “no matter how much blood is spilled” left his lips, the members of Sacred—who were well aware that his party had killed most of the ten million monsters in the Demon Lord Army—gasped in shock.
Helmios, however, merely chuckled. “Well, let’s make sure it doesn’t come to that, then.”
The rest of the dinner with Helmios’s group went by without any further mishaps. On their way back home afterward, Helmios asked Allen how frequently the No-life Gamers were going into the dungeon. Apparently he wanted to match his party’s schedule to theirs.
The new home base had three floors, so it was decided that, just like it had been at Academy City, that the second floor would be the guys’ floor and the third floor would be for the ladies. However, because Helmios’s party bordered on being an outright harem, the third floor did not have enough rooms for everyone. Consequently, some of the girls had to stay on the second floor.
As he had said before, Helmios’s party would be mainly sticking to Floor 4. Their focus would be on raising Helmios’s levels and skills while keeping an eye out for valuable weapons and armors.
＊ ＊ ＊
“All right, it’s finally time! Meruru, show us your golem!”
“O-Okay.”
The No-life Gamers were currently in the plaza on Floor 3. This was a safe area where monsters would not spawn, making it perfect for Meruru to experiment with her new golem.
She held her magic disc in front of her with both hands, making its surface shine with geometric shapes.
“Whoa, your magic disc’s gone all crazy!” Keel instinctively clutched his staff, startled at the sight. “I-Is that supposed to happen?”
When the glow reached a climax, Meruru took a deep breath and shouted, “Tam-Tam, come forth!”
In response, a giant magic circle appeared above the sand before her, and a massive metallic form measuring ten meters high leaped out headfirst. The rest of the Gamers stared up at the towering form with wide eyes, sighing with wonder.
“This is incredible,” Cecil said breathlessly. “How do you move it?”
“I get in it!” Meruru replied.
Dwarven golems did not move by themselves. Instead, pilots had to board them and control them from inside.
When Meruru held her magic disc up to her golem, a ray of light projected from the crystal in the golem’s chest toward Meruru and her disc. The beam lifted them up and sucked them into the crystal.
Dogora whistled softly. “Woooow... How does that even wo— Damn, it moved!”
The golem proceeded to walk and jog around, throwing punches. Once it finished going through all the fundamental motions for fighting monsters, Meruru reemerged.
“That was sooo cooooool!” Krena gushed, prompting Meruru to chuckle and scratch the back of her head bashfully.
“I see, so that’s what a golem can do.” Allen examined Meruru’s magic disc, looking it over closely. He flipped it over from the side with ten impressions and found displayed on the disc’s smooth back surface the golem’s specs.
* * *
Name: Tam-Tam
Pilot: Meruru
Rank: Iron Grade
HP: 1,500 + 900
MP: 1,500 + 900
Attack: 1,500 + 900
Endurance: 1,500 + 900
Agility: 1,500
Intelligence: 1,500
Luck: 1,500
* * *
Tam-Tam’s Status did not show up in Allen’s Grimoire even though it could be seen on the back of Meruru’s magic disc. This fact, when considered along with how Helmios could see the numerical values of the No-life Gamers’ Statuses, proved that there were definitely skills and items in this world that enabled users to see Statuses in actual numbers.
The buffs are probably from Meruru’s Alloy skill. Hm, so the golem’s affected by its pilot’s skills. And if Alloy’s currently giving the golem +900 in everything, that’ll probably become +1,800 when it reaches Lvl. 2.
“Wanna try putting in an enhancement slate too?”
“I thought you’d never ask!”
While they were trying to gather basic slates, the group also picked up three additional slates the same size as the basic ones that were part of the enhancement category. After the five basic slate slots, Meruru’s magic disc still had five slots available, so it was possible to go all out and fill them with enhancement slates—but there were other special slates, such as Gigantify, that were sized differently. Meruru would have to take all this into account when thinking about how to best utilize all ten slots on her disc.
Slate Sizes
Basic slate: 1
Enhancement slate: 1
Gigantify slate: 2
Supergigantify slate: 3
Movement slate: 3
Special slate (other): 5
The three enhancement slates the Gamers had on hand improved HP, Attack, and Agility. When Meruru slid them into her magic disc, the respective stats all jumped up by +2,000. Apparently all enhancement slates for iron golems buffed for the same amount, regardless of the stat.
I guess if we want to make Meruru’s golem more tanky, we should keep an eye out for HP and Endurance enhancement slates. Luckily there’s at least a little bit of wiggle room to experiment. I’m just happy that Meruru can finally resume leveling her skills up again.
“All right, Meruru. Wanna try taking your golem into a real fight?”
“You bet!”
The party mounted their Bird Bs and headed to the nearest rocky mountain with an active cave. Everyone readied themselves before the cave entrance as a Spirit B went inside and drew out a flood of scorpion monsters.
Meruru stepped up, drawing in front of Krena and Dogora.
“MEGATON PUUUNCH!” she shouted, using the name that Allen had taught her as she activated her Flying Arm skill. Her golem held out its balled fists that then promptly shot out with such speed and force that they squashed the scorpions to a pulp.
I see, so the fists are still connected to the body with cables. I guess “Megaton Punch” was the right call after all.
The skill’s actual name was “Flying Arm,” so Allen had been torn between renaming it “Megaton Punch” or “Rocket Punch.” Of course, “Iron Punch” had been eliminated from the get-go; that name would quickly become obsolete since the party had every intention of improving Meruru’s golem to Mithril Grade on the next floor. As it turned out, the arms did not fully detach, so “Megaton Punch” had proven correct in the end.
When the monsters were all wiped out, the party took a moment to catch their breath.
“You did great, Meruru,” Cecil praised her. “Your golem is going to be quite helpful when it remains just as powerful as ever after we lose our levels with our next class promotion.”
Roughly a month from then, all of the No-life Gamers—except Allen and Meruru—would be maxing out their skill levels and going through another class promotion. That meant they were about to have their stats slashed, but so long as Meruru’s golem was with them, they figured they ought to be able to manage even on this floor, despite it having Rank A monsters.
Meruru nodded. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, you guys. But I really don’t think my golem’s strong enough to take on Rank A monsters all by itself...”
Right, her golem’s Attack is 4,400, which isn’t quite enough to get through the tough hides or shells of some Rank A monsters.
“That may be true at the moment, but we’ve only just started collecting slates,” Allen pointed out. “If you can handle the Rank Bs, then we’ll leave those to you. Krena and Dogora will take care of the Rank As for now.”
Krena grinned and puffed out her chest. “Yep! Leave it to us, Meruru!”
In this way, Meruru obtained her golem and the No-life Gamers resumed their efforts at clearing this Rank S dungeon.
＊ ＊ ＊
A month had passed since Meruru made her golem. During this time, the party picked up more slates, including additional enhancement ones and Gigantify, helping Tam-Tam grow even stronger.
The No-life Gamers were currently gathered in the parlor on the first floor back at the base they were sharing with the Hero’s party, Sacred. The house itself was large enough for thirty people to live in, but it was still pretty crowded trying to fit everyone from both parties—around twenty people—into a single room.
As part of the arrangements the two parties made for living together, Allen’s group was now paying ten gold a month for rent and Helmios’s group was paying twenty gold. Sacred also had servants who had brought in a lot of furniture and decorations, giving the previously barren dwelling some much-needed life. Now, they had a large dinner table to eat at and a luxurious sofa that would not look out of place in a noble’s mansion.
Allen was currently sitting on this sofa, sandwiched by Cecil and Rosetta, the Sacred member with the Phantom Thief Talent who always wore outfits exposing her midriff. She seemed to have taken a liking to him, given how often she talked to and teased him.
“Mr. Helmios, aren’t you taking your party into the dungeon today?” Allen asked. “And Ms. Rosetta, there’s no need to scrunch up next to me. There’s an open seat right over there.”
Hmph! Who gave you permission to touch me, woman?
“C’mon, don’t be like that,” Helmios replied, sounding hurt. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“Yeah, c’mon, Allen,” Rosetta echoed, smirking while placing a hand on the teenager’s shoulder. “That’s not how you should talk to your elders.”
Apparently the fact that Allen never got flustered no matter what she did made it that much more fun for her to mess with him. This time, though, was enough to make him sigh.
Cecil wordlessly smacked Rosetta’s hand off his shoulder, prompting an amused “Oh?” from the woman. She then started pressing her thigh against Allen’s instead, pointedly ignoring the daggers shooting out of Cecil’s eyes. Rosetta’s continued smirking indicated that perhaps she was having fun teasing Cecil too.
According to the briefings of how each member joined Helmios’s party, Rosetta had been leading a group of burglars operating in the Giamutan capital but was apprehended by Helmios. She was almost put to death, but was ultimately spared execution on the condition that she joined his party. These days, she would sometimes declare that she was trying to steal his heart whenever she was feeling good after a drink or two.
When Allen heard this story, his opinion of Helmios improved a little, impressed by how he managed to secure a rare three-star Talent for his party. And just like Rosetta, all eight of the women in Helmios’s party were around twenty years old and had their own story for how they joined.
Allen was thinking, What a freaking harem protagonist, when the flying squirrel on Sophie’s shoulder floated into the air and looked down on him.
“Let’s get started, shall we? Ha ha.”
