Hell Mode: Volume 6, page 22
Keel had expressed some annoyance when Allen first told him to work on this reserve healing process, as it was all easier said than done. However, after getting into the swing of predicting enemies’ attacks, his allies’ actions, and the timing of his healing spells, he was able to put it into practice. And though it had taken a lot of work to get used to using it on the friends he had been fighting alongside for so long, he was quickly able to put it into practice for the other parties as well despite having only five days to train.
Back in the games Allen had played in his past life, this would have been referred to as the player’s skill. Allen could tell that Keel’s skill had improved more than that of any of the other Gamers.
Oh well, this isn’t exactly the time or place to dwell on these things. Besides, it looks like the battle is about to turn and it’s almost my turn to enter the fray.
While Helmios kept the iron golems busy at the back of the pack, Admiral Garara’s supercombined golem was slowly drawing Goldino and the bronze golem back, creating a space between them and the iron golems. Allen knew perfectly well what the range limit on their Repair Energy ability was—if things continued as they were, it was just a matter of time until they would lose their ability to revive their allies.
“We’re almost there! They’ll only have one ally who can bring them back soon!”
After sharing that information with the rest of the parties, Allen issued a command to Merus.
“Hngh!” Goldino grunted as it realized what Allen was doing. It stopped pressing the attack and called out to the other golems. “Gah, we have no choice but to fall back. To me!” Just before they stopped their forward advance, Merus arrived with a report and Allen used his Bird A’s Awakened Ability.
“Heh, like I’m gonna let that happen!” In an instant, he teleported one of the supercombined golems into the gap between Goldino and the iron golems while pressing the assault on the iron golems from down the hallway behind them.
“What are you doing, you little runt?! Iron golems, on me!” Goldino’s command, however, went unheeded. One of the iron golems farther down the hallway was being held back by the supercombined golem, and the other, near the entrance, had just been defeated by the party led by Helmios and Merus.
“Good job, team!” Helmios called out to his party. “That’s one challenge down!”
“On to the next target!” Merus used the Bird A’s Awakened Ability, Return to Nest, to teleport Helmios and his party to the other iron golem. Even while under the heavy onslaught inflicted upon it by the supercombined golem, the iron golem was still hard at work bringing the bronze and mithril golems back when Helmios and his party arrived to join the fray. Several minutes later, the second golem was also defeated, and Helmios and Merus finally reached Goldino.
Meanwhile, the mithril golem was shot down at the hands of several Stone As’ Focused Bombardment Abilities. Now that it was again safe to travel around by air, Allen hopped onto a Bird B and flew over to get a closer look at Goldino.
Hmm, just like I thought. Its Endurance stat is pretty impressive, though all of its stats are higher than those of the other golems. I doubt Merus or even Helmios’s party can really do much damage to it.
It only made sense that the final floor boss would be pretty powerful. However, now that Goldino was busy fending off attacks from Merus and Helmios, it was no longer able to protect the bronze golem. Garara’s supercombined golem, along with the Gamers and Prince Zeu’s party, could now lay on the damage. Cecil and a Beast Archwizard mousekin named Rato focused their fire-based attacks on the bronze golem and managed to take it down in no time.
“All right, the bronze golem’s down! That leaves just Goldino. Sweep in for a pincer strike!” At Allen’s command, Garara’s supercombined golem and the Ten Heroic Beasts moved into the space occupied by the bronze golem mere moments before, closing in on Goldino.
“Y-You mongrels! Now I’m going to show you what I’m really made of!”
“A-Allen, it looks like it’s about to do something!” Cecil called out to Allen from behind, surprise clear in her voice.
Goldino let out a tremendous roar and its eyes flashed. “Components, come to me!”
Following its orders, the four golems began to float in the air.
Chapter 12: Battling the Final Floor Boss (Part 2)
Allen heard shouts of astonishment coming from Helmios and his party, Sacred, as the iron golem’s body floated through the air toward them. It then, together with the other iron golem the group had defeated, transformed into two large legs. Goldino retracted its limbs into its body and landed atop the legs as the bronze golem connected to its right shoulder and the mithril golem to its left. The mithril golem further rearranged itself until it was bristling with gun barrels of various sizes. A long artillery battery formed atop either of its shoulders, each with multiple barrels aimed toward the ceiling, as Goldino completed its transformation into its supercombined form.
“Now I’m brimming with power! Behold my true form. Fear me, mortals, and quake in your boots as you meet your maker! Bwa ha ha!”
The very walls of the hallway shuddered as Goldino laughed, its supercombined form now filling the entire width of the passage. It sounded to Allen like a cheap cartoon villain.
Allen continued to circle around in the sky as he issued orders to the group. “Looks like Goldino also has a combined form! Golems, focus on protecting the rear guard and stop Goldino in its tracks!”
“Bwa ha! I don’t care how many of you weaklings there are; there’s no safety in numbers!”
Just as Goldino finished speaking, the two multibarrel batteries on its shoulders aimed behind it and started shooting toward the entrance of the hallway. The barrels rotated swiftly, sending countless balls of light the size of a person’s head flying down the hallway. They flew so fast that it looked like a solid beam of light. Merus quickly Summoned several Stone As above the shots and had them release their steel balls to try and use Absorb to block the attacks. Alas, there were too many shots, and cracks quickly began to form on their bodies as they reached their absorption limits.
Whoa, looks like Rockanel’s not going to be able to absorb it all.
“Merus, Summon more Rockanels! They can’t take it all!”
“Aaagh!” Meanwhile, Goldino raised its left arm toward Admiral Garara and the others closing in from farther down the hallway and began shooting balls of light out of the myriad guns covering its arm. Garara’s supercombined golem threw its arms up in front of its chest, forming them into a large X in order to take the shots head-on and protect the rest of the group standing behind him. A moment later, he was struck by a drill punch from Goldino’s right arm.
“Aughhh!”
Admiral Garara’s supercombined golem staggered backward as fragments of its destroyed arms rained to the ground. Meruru and the other dwarves hurriedly replaced the slates in their magic discs and slapped away the drill punch with its regenerated arms.
“Use Focused Bombardment on its shoulders!” Allen shouted to two Stone As. Blasts of silver light shot toward Goldino from behind and sliced cleanly through both shoulders, sending fragments of the artillery batteries to the floor. “Now’s our chance!”
“Yeah!”
Upon seeing this, the supercombined golem located behind Goldino closed in. However, before it was able to get within arm’s reach, a loud, metallic clanking sound erupted from Goldino’s shoulders as the batteries regenerated.
“Heh, is that all you’ve got? Not enough, kid. Not by a long shot!” Once Goldino was through mocking its attackers, it once again resumed its barrage of light orbs.
“Gyaugh!” The supercombined golem was unable to protect itself from the onslaught in time and took the attack head-on. While this was going on, Allen noticed that Goldino’s leg was glowing ever so slightly.
Hmm, so I guess it’s able to use the iron golems’ recovery abilities.
Based on his observations, he quickly issued orders to his comrades. “Aim for the legs! It’s going to keep regenerating any part we destroy until we take them out!”
Krena and Dogora launched forward on their respective Bird Bs in an attempt to draw the attention of Goldino’s gun arm. All the while, Prince Zeu and his party launched an attack on its legs. Zeu repeatedly punched at them using his metal knuckles, slowly causing them to crack and deform. Though they were making progress, the iron golem legs were a lot harder than they had been prior to combining.
“Ngh! The metal’s pretty hard!”
“Allow me, Prince!” General Hoba, the armored bearkin, yelled as he repeatedly slammed his massive hammer down on the enemy. However, every time he crushed a portion of the foot, it was soon restored, causing Hoba’s hairy face to contort with rage.
Allen let out a groan as he recalled the stupidly powerful healing abilities of Scarlet, Floor 3’s Rank S floor boss.
Gah, are we going to end up in a Scarlet situation again?
He was referring to the situation they had encountered with Scarlet, where the enemy was able to heal its HP faster than they were able to cause damage.
Making matters worse was just how powerful Goldino was. It could unleash long-range attacks with its mighty artillery batteries, as well as close-range attacks with its drill punch. Unlike Scarlet, they would not be able to defeat it by slowly draining his HP. In fact, this was quite the opposite situation—the longer the battle went on, the more dangerous it became.
“We’re not gonna be able to beat it at this rate. Everyone in the vanguard, I want you to use your Extra Skills to attack its legs! We won’t stand a chance at victory if we can’t put a stop to its healing!”
“Got it!” Krena responded without a second thought and a haze began to emanate from her as she used her Extra Skill, Limit Break. One by one, the members of the Ten Heroic Beasts holding the front line used their Extra Skills as well.
Allen watched as his comrades moved swiftly between Goldino’s legs. While this was going on, however, Goldino turned its shoulder batteries and gun arm forward and continued its assault on the supercombined golem before it. In response, Allen continued to Summon and Strengthen Stone As, alternating his attacks between the shoulders and the legs.
Just like I thought. Some Extra Skills increase Attack, but the majority are a single, powerful strike. Personally, I’d prefer the stat-boosting ones right now.
Though single-hit-type Extra Skills dealt a tremendous amount of damage, if they did not kill, any damage they inflicted would quickly be undone by an opponent with high HP recovery.
Goldino swung its leg to the side and managed to strike Prince Zeu, who was unable to dodge in time, sending him flying into the wall.
“Ngyah!”
“Your Highness!”
Fui, the beastkin healer, hurried to the prince’s side and healed him—and just in time, as the light had begun to fade from his eyes before the healing magic set in. Zeu slowly got to his feet, though it was clear from the way his tongue was hanging out of his mouth and how his shoulders heaved with every breath that he was exhausted.
It seems like we’re just not able to do enough damage.
Allen feared that the effects of the stat-boosting Extra Skills would wear off before they were able to destroy the legs. Prior to the battle, he had distributed Blessings of Heaven to the support members and healers of the group in case someone took more damage than their healing magic could recover. Alas, even those had their limits.
After quickly checking on his friends’ statuses, Allen closed his grimoire.
It’s still a bit dangerous, but I guess it’s time for me to enter the fray. If that doesn’t work, we can always retreat.
In addition to adjusting the strategy and giving out orders as the situation demanded, Allen also had a role to play in his master plan. He did not intend to act unless it became necessary, but it was beginning to look like he would be needed.
“All right, it’s time for me to join you all on the front lines. Sara, Goldino’s attacks are going to get even fiercer, so don’t hesitate to use the elven elixirs if things get out of hand for your healing abilities.”
After issuing his command, Allen turned to make his way to the front line. Before he could go, however, a hand wrapped around a metal knuckle grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks.
“It’s fine, Allen,” Prince Zeu said in a low, quiet tone. “This is my trial.”
“But there’s nothing to be gained by losing. Someone very important is awaiting your return in Albahal, you know.”
Allen recalled hearing that Zeu’s beloved wife was waiting for him back in Albahal. He could not help but wonder if there was something even more important to the prince that continued to drive him to maintain his fighting spirit.
Just then, Allen noticed a haze form around Zeu’s body. Now that he thought about it, the prince had not used his Extra Skill yet.
“I, Zeu, descendant of the Albahalan royal beast family, call upon Beast God Garm to hear my wish. Please lend me your strength! Beast Mode! Graaawrrr!”
After a short prayer, Zeu threw his head back and let out a tremendous growl. His voice was nearly as loud as Goldino’s, likewise making the walls of the hallway reverberate. His hair stood on end as his body began to grow before their very eyes. Already a massive two meters tall, he became even larger, causing the clasps on his armor to snap and sending his breastplate falling to the floor. A three-meter-tall beast stood where the prince had once been.
“Whoa!” Allen could hardly contain his surprise at the transformation.
“Heh, so this is his Beast Mode, huh? Looks like Garm went all out on this one.” Even Merus was impressed, judging by his tone of voice.
What the heck is Beast Mode?
“What’s happening? Do beastkin have some kind of special skill?” Allen quickly asked Merus, unsure of what was going on.
“This is also an Extra Skill.”
“It is? So beastkin do have some kind of special skill?”
“Bingo. This is the power granted to them by Beast God Garm.”
Looking up at the massive, bipedal lion further impressed Allen. The figure, standing where Prince Zeu had just been, threw his muscle-bound arms into the air and shouted in a loud, booming voice. “Beastkin, follow my lead! Graaawrrr!” He then pounded his fists on the floor.
Allen felt himself briefly bouncing up and down on the floor moments before cracks radiated out from the points where Zeu’s fists had hit the ground. Golden rays of light then spread throughout the cracks, crossing over one another to form a geometric pattern shaped like a magic circle.
“Ooh! The prince has gained the power of Beast God Garm, the likes of which has hardly ever been seen before! Grrrr!” Fui and General Hoba, who maintained his station at the prince’s side, both shouted out in excitement. Once the ever-expanding magic circle reached Hoba’s feet, his body, too, began to grow just like the Prince’s had until he transformed into a massive, three-meter-tall bear. The large hammer he wielded in both hands now looked like a toy in his grip.
The transformation did not stop there either. The magic circle continued to spread until all of the Ten Heroic Beasts had transformed.
Dogora looked down from his Bird B, amazed at what he was witnessing. “What the heck was that?! I can’t believe it!”
To Allen, this looked like the chance at victory he had been hoping for. “It should be fine, I think. Zeu has just used all of his power, is all. The real battle is about to start.”
“Let’s go! Everyone, follow me to victory! Grrrr!”
The transformed Ten Heroic Beasts let out a ferocious roar in response before moving together in unison to strike at Goldino.
“Raaawr!”
The Beast Prince leaned back momentarily before leaping up diagonally. He pierced Goldino’s knee like a golden arrow of light, his knuckle-equipped fist embedding itself deep in the metal. It seemed that the beastkin also grew stronger as their bodies enlarged.
The Ten Heroic Beasts followed the prince’s lead, wildly striking at Goldino and causing massive amounts of damage in a short period of time. While Goldino tried to avoid the attacks, it did little in the way of putting up a defense. Allen and Merus continued their conversation while doing all they could to support the beast party.
“That power was granted by Garm to the royal family so that the beastkin could gain their independence. It was a really big ordeal when Garm came to Elmea’s temple.”
Apparently a lot had happened in the background in order for the beastkin to gain their independence from the Empire of Giamut.
“‘Granted’? You mean it’s possible to gain Extra Skills you weren’t born with?”
Come to think of it, I remember reading that people can have up to three Extra Skills.
Allen had seen text in his past life mentioning that three Extra Skills were chosen at random for those playing on Easy Mode. He later confirmed this with Merus, who had stated that Extra Skills were granted to a given slot and people could have a maximum of three.
“That’s correct.”
Though still facing Merus, Allen averted his gaze to keep an eye on the battle. Using his immense Intelligence stat, he continued to watch the battle while Summoning to contribute to the fight.
So you’re granted one Extra Skill at birth and can have a maximum of three in total. Does that mean you need to appeal to the gods in order to get additional ones?
Allen tried to recall how he had acquired skills when playing games in his past life. In them, there were multiple ways through which you could gain a skill, such as by leveling up, beating a boss, or even opening a treasure chest. In this world, you grew through leveling up your class skills. As you leveled them up, you would improve your old skills and even gain new ones. This was the method he had used to gain skills over the past fifteen years here in this world, though apparently they could also be granted to you by gods.
