Hell Mode: Volume 6, page 23
Now it’s just a matter of what the best way to obtain our new skills is. Apparently the Beast God granted a special skill to the beastkin.
“So does this mean that the Beast King also has this Extra Skill?”
Merus nodded. “That’s correct. The current Beast King also has the same Extra Skill.”
Hmm, so that’s how Helmios lost to the Beast King. He’d already given me a hint, but I failed to properly analyze what it really meant.
Helmios had previously battled—and lost against—the Beast King at a gathering of the respective leaders of the Five Continent Alliance. This probably meant not that the Beast King himself did not have skill useful in one-on-one combat, but rather that Helmios could not win in the face of an Extra Skill granted by the Beast God.
Long ago, Beast God Garm had directly negotiated with Elmea in order to save his suffering people. From that point forward, they had been granted a powerful buff to protect them. That would explain why the Beast King was so enraged at the teachings of Daemonism, which denied the very existence of Garm—a fact that the Beast King knew to be patently false.
“Grrrr!”
The Beast Prince and Ten Heroic Beasts surrounded Goldino’s legs and continued their assault, slowly destroying them.
It’s like they all jumped up a class and gained an extra star.
“Y-You fools!”
Goldino’s concern was evident in its voice. In addition to all the buffs they had received, the enlarged beastkin were able to cause more damage than Goldino’s recovery abilities could keep up with.
All right, this is great. One way or another, once its legs are destroyed and it can no longer heal, it’s finished.
Just as Allen felt assured of their victory, he felt as if the world shook around him. His whole body was then restrained, and he began moving quickly through the air.
“Huh?”
He was now face-to-face with Goldino, who had apparently grabbed Allen with his massive fist.
“A-Allen?!” Cecil hurriedly canceled the powerful magic attack she was going to unleash on Goldino. Allen realized that he was in Goldino’s right hand, which had transformed back from its drill form. He was the only one in the massive fist, as Merus had apparently used Return to Nest to escape. Since Allen had been using Bird A’s buff, Fly, he and Cecil were not traveling together, meaning that she was, fortunately, unharmed.
Merus, you jerk. Why’d you run away like that? Actually, now that I think about it, Angel Halo doesn’t let him teleport me around since it’s outside his assigned permissions.
Merus’s Ability, Angel Halo, allowed him to Summon just like Allen, though with several restrictions. Allen had removed some of these restrictions so that Merus could use the Summons without needing his permission, but he had not applied that to Bird A’s Awakened Ability, Return to Nest, which would allow him to teleport groups.
“So you’re the leader of the party, I see.” Though the hihiirokane face remained expressionless, Allen could hear the smirk in Goldino’s voice.
Allen tried to brush him off. “Huh? Nope. The beast down there is. That lion-looking guy is the leader; I’m just playing a support role.” Even as Zeu continued his assault on Goldino’s legs, the massive golem kept its gaze fixed on Allen.
I wonder if it’s just going to keep letting us drain its HP.
Allen turned around in the grip of the immense hand and used Bird F’s Ability, Transmission, to assure Cecil, who was more than a hundred meters below, that things were fine. Bird F’s Ability could communicate over vast distances without being overheard by the enemy.
Cecil thought back to when they were children. Just like then, Allen found himself in the grip of a large monster. However, this monster was several dozen times larger than the murdergalsh who had gotten ahold of him last time.
“You little wretch. You’ve really been a thorn in my side, sending these strange things out against me over and over again.” It was becoming clear that Goldino had a pretty good idea of Allen’s status within the party. “Now that I’ve got your attention, I should properly thank you!”
Goldino squeezed its fist tightly, causing Allen to disappear into the large fist and out of sight of his friends.
“Oh no, Allen!” Sophie cried out, lowering her bow. “Keel, please, you have to heal him!”
Goldino bellowed out a loud, piercing laugh as it shook its tightly clenched fist. “Bwa ha ha! This is where it all ends! Your leader is dead!”
The group watched as Goldino hurled something down at the ground. The object hit the floor at tremendous speed, causing it to cave in and sending rocks flying. Goldino then lifted up its twenty-meter-tall leg and slammed it into the impact site again and again like a hammer slamming into a post. The crater grew ever larger as the sound of crushing rocks reverberated through the hallway.
Each of the four parties responded in their own way. Zeu and the Ten Heroic Beasts froze momentarily before quickly resuming their assault on Goldino’s pivot foot. Admiral Garara and the three golems under his command were being kept at a distance due to Goldino’s bombardment. Sacred awaited Helmios’s command, though he merely stood there with his arms crossed, waiting to see how things would unfold. And the No-life Gamers redoubled their attacks on Goldino, unsure of what else to do. Sophie and Volmaar loosed volleys of arrows while Krena and Dogora struck with their sword and axe, respectively. They continued to whale away at Goldino, making no effort to stop its stomping. However...
“Hm? What’s this?” Goldino stopped smashing its foot into the ground and a brief period of silence washed over the hall. In that silence, a voice could be heard calling out from the crater.
“Keep up the attack! Don’t let it heal all the damage you’ve inflicted!”
It was Allen’s voice.
“What the hell?! Die, damn you!” There was a tinge of fear in Goldino’s voice. It leaned its whole body forward, putting all its weight into bringing its foot down.
“Ngh!”
It stomped on something heavy, sending its foot bounding back up with a loud, dull thud. Knocked off-balance, Goldino stumbled backward before stopping to look down at the crater.
There was Allen, shaking off the remnants of his armor as he slowly stepped out of the crater. In his hand, he held an adamantite sword.
Allen had slain many Rank A and higher monsters in the past year in his attempt to clear the Rank S dungeon, raising his level to 81. Though his King Me skill remained locked, his Summons’ buffs had grown stronger upon reaching Summoning Lvl. 8. Furthermore, he had managed to reach Sword Mastery Lvl. 4 thanks to the party’s endless hunting of iron golems in Floor 5’s Iron Zone.
* * *
Name: Allen
Age: 15
Class: Summoner
Level: 81
HP: 2,615 + 2,400
MP: 4,140 + 2,200
Attack: 1,452 + 14,600
Endurance: 1,452 + 2,400
Agility: 2,703 + 16,200
Intelligence: 4,150 + 4,200
Luck: 2,703 + 2,000
Skills: Summoning {8}, Creation {8}, Synthesis {8}, Strengthening {8}, Awakening {8}, Expansion {7}, Storage, Sharing, Quick Summoning, Equivalency, Deputize, King Me {Locked}, Deletion, Sword Mastery {4}, Throwing {3}
XP: Approx. 700,000,000,000/900,000,000,000
Equipment
Ring 1: +5,000 Attack
Ring 2: +5,000 Attack
Adamantite Sword: +2,500 Attack
Magic Cape: +6,000 Endurance, +3,000 Attack
Holder
Insect:
Beast: A x 1
Bird: A x 5, B x 8, F x 1
Grass:
Stone: A x 1
Fish: A x 1
Spirit: A x 1
Dragon: A x 61
Angel: A x 1
* * *
In addition to the buffs Allen received from his Summons and the two rings increasing his Attack by 5,000 each, he had also received powerful buffs from the party members.
* * *
HP: 7,815
MP: 11,021
Attack: 31,808
Endurance: 11,557
Agility: 27,166
Intelligence: 8,355
Luck: 5,550
* * *
Stacked Buffs through Skills and Magic
Sophie: multiple stat boosts from her spirits
Keel: 24% boost to Endurance
Fui: 18% boost to Endurance
Holy Knight: 12% boost to Endurance
Temi: 18% boost to MP, 18% boost to Luck
Lepe: 24% boost to Attack, 24% boost to Agility
Thanks to all the stacked buffs, Allen was able to take Goldino’s attacks head-on and, using his Sword Mastery and ring-boosted Attack stat, knock it off-balance.
“Waugh?! It’s a gh-ghost?!” Hoba cried out in surprise. Allen locked eyes with the general, who now stood with his hammer at the ready facing the young Summoner as his fear temporarily took hold.
“What are you doing?” Allen asked the frozen bearkin. “Keep pressing the assault; we’re almost there.” Hoba, having seemingly forgotten that he was in Beast Mode and drawn his weapon on the black-haired boy out of sheer terror, finally came to his senses and hurriedly turned his attention back to the enemy.
Allen quickly disappeared from the general’s view as he closed in on Goldino at tremendous speed and slammed his adamantite sword into the leg that had been stomping on him mere moments before. The sound of the impact echoed down the hallway as Goldino was knocked to the side.
“Hngh!”
Goldino managed to catch itself on the wall with one hand and push itself back to its feet, though the blow seemed to have dealt it a considerable amount of damage.
Looks like I was able to cause even more damage than my stats should have allowed. Thanks to everyone’s buffs, I’m practically landing critical hits now.
In addition to his Summons’ buffs, Abilities, and Awakened Abilities, Allen was also powered up thanks to his comrades’ buffs. Lepe and his Summons in particular had increased his chance of landing critical hits to nearly a hundred percent.
Allen continued to thrash away at Goldino’s leg.
“Whoa, looks like he’s back to it,” Keel whispered in amazement. This was a scene he had witnessed countless times when the Gamers spent a month hunting iron golems in the Iron Zone. Allen had been completely driven to increase his level and often attacked like this in his desire to defeat as many iron golems as he could.
“Y-You’d best learn your place, you little upstart!”
Goldino tried to attack Allen with a drill punch. Though there was a risk that it would hit its own leg, taking out Allen was a priority.
Allen raised his free hand and tried to catch the rapidly spinning drill. It tore through his hand in an instant, but right as it hit his wrist, it was unable to proceed any farther, almost as if it had hit a wall. This was thanks to Fish B’s Ability, Turtle Shield, and Awakened Ability, Turtle Barrier, as well as the buff provided by Spirit A, Physical Damage Resistance (High).
Wow, okay, that drill punch really lays on the damage! C’mon, Physical Damage Resistance (High), you really need to step up your game! Then again, I guess it’s not like I’m gonna die or anything, it just hurts like hell. You’re not gonna walk away from this one, Goldino!
Allen’s shredded hand began to regenerate bit by bit thanks to Keel’s healing magic. Since becoming a Saint King, Keel could restore even lost limbs.
Once Allen’s fingers were fully healed, he began to press the attack once again using the same strategy he had implemented back in the Iron Zone. Ever since his stats shot up after reaching Summoning Lvl. 8, he had started wielding a weapon and attacking as part of the vanguard, as he could now hold his own there.
Rather than concerning himself with if he could avoid attacks, Allen determined whether he would go on the offensive from the front line of battle based on if he could defeat the enemy before he was killed. It was Keel’s role to support him with recovery magic, which obviously served as practice for Keel in anticipating the timing of an attack and chanting recovery magic in advance.
“Merus, get in here and fight.”
And don’t run away this time!
“All right. Sure thing, Master Allen.”
Merus joined in attacking the same leg as Allen. He, too, enjoyed the benefits of the stacked buffs and boasted impressive stats. Allen figured he could probably even survive a drill punch.
Realizing that this was their chance since Goldino was fixated on Allen, Prince Zeu called out to his party. “All right, men, follow Allen’s lead!” The group closed in on the remaining leg and attacked with such ferocity as to give Allen and Merus a run for their money. Meanwhile, Goldino continued to focus its close-range attacks on Allen while its shoulder batteries and gun-covered left arm continued to focus on the supercombined golems in front of it, keeping them out of the battle. Now that Allen was directly involved in the fighting, he was no longer calling forth any Summons to absorb or protect the golems from the attacks, leaving them with little in the way of defense.
Allen could see what was going on through his shared vision with his Bird B and Bird A Summons, so he decided to speed up the assault as he deftly handled his one-handed sword.
I’ve...gotta...hurry.
Finally, Allen’s blade managed to cleave halfway through Goldino’s right leg, with the weight of its massive body crushing the remaining portion. At nearly the exact same time, Zeu managed to destroy the left leg.
Goldino’s body slowly fell forward, and after a split second, a thunderous sound shook the hallway. The group was briefly lifted off the floor from the sheer force of the impact, and when they landed back on their feet, they found Goldino lying face down on the floor with its arms splayed out.
“Y-You imbeciles!”
Allen, Prince Zeu, and his party quickly rushed out from under Goldino.
“All right, Cecil, time to put the final nail in its coffin!”
Cecil nodded in response and prepared to use her Extra Skill, Petit Meteor. “Here goes!”
However, just before she was able to let loose, a narrow cane appeared in front of her, hindering her movements. “Wait a moment.”
“What do you think you’re doing?!” Cecil looked over at the person who had stopped her and noticed a haze coming off the mousekin, Rato.
“Magic Spring, Full Burst!”
After activating their Extra Skill, a massive magic circle appeared on the ground.
“What’s that?”
“This should be of some help. It doubles the power of your magic,” Rato answered with a grin. Apparently they were setting the stage for Cecil’s pièce de résistance.
“Wow, thanks for the help. All right then, let’s go! Petit Meteor!”
Contrary to her reserved response, Cecil wore a look of pure dedication as she poured all her MP into her Extra Skill. When she cast it, her expression tensed up due to the massive, fiery red meteor a hundred meters in diameter now racing down from the ceiling.
“What?! Whoa! Return to Nest!”
Seeing the meteor tearing its way through the walls on its way down, Allen hurriedly teleported his friends away. Looking back from the safe distance they had teleported to, he watched the meteor hit the now-kneeling Goldino head-on.
“Gyaaah! You mongrels! How dare you?!”
Goldino desperately tried to hold the meteor back, but the artillery batteries on both shoulders shattered and its hands were crushed before its entire body was buried in the floor.
“Did we win?” Cecil asked under her breath.
Allen looked at his grimoire. No text appeared on the cover. “No, not yet.” He then cautiously approached Goldino.
Due to its huge mass and high heat, the small meteorite had created a huge crater at its impact site. The closer they got, the higher the temperature rose, causing the party to sweat.
“H-Hey, there’s no way he could still be alive after being crushed by that massive rock, right?” Looking down at the large rock from his perch at the edge of the bowl-shaped cavern, Keel spoke his mind. Goldino’s massive body seemed to have melted due to the high heat and become one with the sloping wall of the crater.
“No, we need to put an end to this. Everyone, get into battle positions and—”
“Hyah!”
Just as the words left Allen’s mouth, the meteor shattered and Goldino stood up.
This time, however, it was only a hundred meters tall, the same height it had been before combining. The other four golems had only barely retained their original forms and hung from it like scrap metal.
Goldino took a step forward to leave the crater, though the steeply sloped wall merely collapsed and sent it falling back down. It had cracks all over its body and looked as if it were about to collapse.
“You’re still not dead?!” Zeu cried out in surprise.
I guess it needs to take a certain amount of damage in order to...
“I think this means that—”
However, before Allen could get the words out, Goldino interrupted him. “Looks like you just had to push me to start taking this seriously. You’re gonna regret this, you know.” Its voice oozed confidence.
An instant later, Goldino’s body collapsed forward and an undamaged Goldino appeared from inside, only smaller. Parts of the collapsed body formed a spinning wheel on its back.
“Whoa, hey, something came out!” Keel shouted in surprise at this development. “Just what is that thing?!”
“Looks like it’s gotten smaller. I figure this should be no problem for us, then.” Dogora muttered his observations to no one in particular.
Compared to the first Goldino, this form was less than one-third the size. It had a slender body and a ring-shaped object floated above its head, not much unlike the mithril golem. Its face, however, remained unchanged as it fixed the group with a glare.
