Hell Mode: Volume 4, page 28
Failing to get an answer, Allen asked, “What’s this? Are you sleeping?”
Krena looked between Allen’s and Dogora’s faces several times. “What do you mean, Allen? Is Dogora okay?!”
Allen turned to Keel, who shrugged with a troubled expression.
“Keel succeeded the second time he used his Extra Skill,” Allen explained while looking at his grimoire.
Everyone else caught on and sighed with relief as Krena gave Keel a questioning gaze.
“I’m pretty sure I did it after receiving the Blessing of the Sovereign of Spirits. I have no idea why he’s not getting up, though.”
“You did it, as in...”
“Yep, I brought Dogora back to life.”
“Really?!”
Without hesitation, Krena lunged at Dogora and started shaking him vigorously.
As he watched on, Allen analyzed the effects of Keel’s Extra Skill, Drops of God. He already knew that the skill’s effect was to resurrect someone who had died, as Keel had been liberal in using it back in Academy City and during the war in Rohzenheim. At first, Allen had wondered whether it was possible to determine the skill’s rate of success. Thanks to having seen so many resurrection skills tied to Intelligence in many of the games he had played in his previous life, however, he quickly put two and two together.
Characteristics of the Extra Skill “Drops of God” Resurrects one dead person
If too much time has passed since death, resurrection is impossible
The chance of success is 1% for every 1,000 Intelligence (i.e., 3% for 3,000 Intelligence)
Cooldown time is one day
In all likelihood, the reason why Keel succeeded the second time was because of the Intelligence boost the Blessing of the Sovereign of Spirits gave him. Okay, we’ve seriously gotta raise Keel’s Intelligence above 10,000. Finding him rings that raise Intelligence will be one of our priorities when we go through the Rank S dungeon.
After noting down the results of his analysis and their plans for the future, Allen closed his grimoire and turned to give Rohzen a deep bow. “Thank you very much, Lord Rohzen. You saved our lives.”
“It’s all good. Ha ha.”
For some reason, the flying squirrel was still perched on Sophie’s shoulder even though any other grand spirit would have already dematerialized by now.
“A-Alleeeen, Dogora isn’t waking up,” Krena cried plaintively as she kept shaking him.
“Dogora’s HP has definitely recovered all the way,” Allen assured her. “He’s choosing not to get up. I’ve no idea why, though.”
“Huh? Dogora...”
Krena stopped her shaking, and the rest of the No-life Gamers looked at Dogora again. Allen’s grimoire told him that Dogora’s HP was back to full; this was why he had been talking to the other boy like normal this whole time.
When Allen leaned in to take a closer look at Dogora’s face, Dogora’s arms shot up and grabbed Allen’s collar. With his eyes still closed, Dogora mumbled, “‘Even Dogora managed to use his Extra Skill’?”
Allen cocked his head. “What are you talking about?”
Dogora’s eyes flew open, then he started shaking Allen the same way Krena had just now. “I heard that, Allen! You said to Krena, ‘Even Dogora managed to use his Extra Skill!’”
What is he... Oh right, I did say that.
As it turned out, Dogora had revived quite a while back and had been sulking all the while because he heard what Allen had shouted while he was regaining consciousness.
“That’s, uh... Sorry, man.”
“Hmph.” Dogora let go of Allen and slowly got to his feet. His footing was still somewhat shaky, either due to having just been resurrected or to having used Heart and Soul.
Krena threw her arms around his neck. “Dogora!”
The boy now looked sheepish at the way he had made his friends worry and how they were wholeheartedly celebrating his resurrection. He apologized for not having been there to help out during the last part of the fight.
“So, is the Demonic Deity dead?” he asked.
“Nope, not quite yet,” Allen replied. “We need to go see how he’s do—”
“Are you safe, Princess Sophialohne?!” Volmaar cried as he rejoined the group.
When Volmaar was satisfied that Sophie was fine, Allen declared, “The Demonic Deity is still alive. Let’s go finish him off!”
Krena nodded with a bright smile. “Okay!”
The entire group promptly mounted Bird Bs and flew over to where Rehzel lay.
Whoa, this is pretty bad.
When Allen looked down from up in the sky at the area surrounding where Rehzel had fallen, he found it in a much worse state than expected. He asked over his shoulder reproachfully, “Cecil, don’t you think you went a bit overboard this time?”
“Wha— Don’t make this my fault! You’re the one who told me to do it!” Cecil protested, clinching Allen from behind in a choke hold.
“Urgh! I...can’t...b-breathe...”
The devastation below spoke volumes about the combined sheer destructive power of Cecil’s Petit Meteor and Rehzel’s spell. About a third of the city of Fortenia had been erased, replaced with one massive crater. The shock waves from the impact of the attacks had blown out many additional buildings beyond the range of the crater, leaving an even greater radius of destruction.
“Ah, there he is!” Allen told his friends before landing his Bird B. He approached the center of the crater where Demonic Deity Rehzel lay on his back wordlessly staring up at the sky. His entire body was thoroughly mangled thanks to both Petit Meteor and his own spell, with Helmios’s orichalcum sword still buried deep in his left breast. It was a wonder he was still alive.
“Demonic Deity Rehzel?” Allen called out, his sword held up warily.
In a tired voice, Rehzel replied, “There you are. Would you mind leaving me like this for just a little while more?” Clearly, he did not have the energy to even sit up anymore.
Allen studied him for a brief moment, then sheathed his sword. “All right.”
“Wait, what?! Allen?!” Cecil, who had been following Allen, was stunned by his actions.
“It’s fine,” he assured her. “Rehzel’s beyond help, anyway. His body’s already breaking down.”
“Huh?” Cecil took a closer look at the Demonic Deity and noticed that, sure enough, his body was giving off a black vapor in various places. Once he died, he would very likely simply turn to ash instead of leaving behind a corpse, just like Glaster and Yagof.
The wind rustled the leaves of the World Tree within Rehzel’s view. “What a beautiful tree,” he mumbled. “What I would give for my brethren to see it too...” He almost seemed to be trying to burn the image into his vision.
Allen could not help himself. He blurted out, “Demonic Deity Rehzel, was this outcome what you wanted?”
In the end, Rehzel had failed to take back the World Tree and was now fading away into dust. This sounded like the furthest thing from what he had been fighting for, but the expression he had while gazing up at the World Tree was one of satisfaction.
“There truly is nothing better than dying in the Promised Land, is there? However, when I think of my brethren, who still harbor the same unfulfilled dream...” Rehzel’s body continued to disintegrate.
“I see” was all Allen said before he fell quiet again.
“Descendant of the Priestess of Prayer,” Rehzel said to Sophie, “know that even after I die, there will be a second and a third m— Actually, no. This is enough.”
“What do you mean?” Sophie could see that Rehzel’s eyes no longer glowed with hatred the way they had during their first meeting.
The Demonic Deity made a herculean effort to raise his one last arm toward the sky. “I see. So it’s still out of reach. Olbaas, I did all this for you, but...I’m sorry...”
Rehzel seemed to have recalled something in this moment right before he faded away entirely. However, his voice was too soft for Allen and the others to catch. He clenched his hand as if grabbing at something, only for his entire body to crumble. Demonic Deity Rehzel quietly turned to ash and then simply was no longer.
I leveled up? I still needed a ton more XP, though. Wait, this message doesn’t even mention the amount of XP. Uh, do I get one level whenever I kill a Demonic Deity no matter what?
Allen recorded his findings from the fight with Rehzel in his grimoire while absentmindedly watching Helmios retrieve his orichalcum sword from the Demonic Deity’s ashes.
“What’s the matter, Allen?” Krena asked. She recognized the face that Allen made whenever he was deep in thought.
“Hm? Oh, I was thinking that maybe this Extra Gate really does exist, and that whoever walks through it would be able to change to Extra Mode.”
Krena waved her arms about. “They’ll end up with six arms, though!”
I’m sure the Sovereign of Spirits would know whether I’m right or not, but... Allen turned to Sophie to ask the flying squirrel on her shoulder, but he found Rohzen glaring at a spot in midair, a grim expression taking the place of his usually gentle one.
“What’s the m—”
The Sovereign of Spirits suddenly started shining, interrupting Allen’s question.
“Lord Rohzen?!” Joy filled Sophie’s eyes as she connected the dots. “Are you turning into the God of Spirits now?!”
The flying squirrel purposefully got off Sophie’s shoulder. The light continued growing in intensity and size, and the Sovereign of Spirit’s form also gradually changed into that of a four-legged beast. Apparently Rohzen had relaxed now that the Demonic Deity was dead, allowing the process that he had been suppressing this whole time to finally ascend him to godhood.
Eventually, the light faded, revealing the God of Spirits’ form.
So this is the God of Spirits. He kinda looks like a bear now.
As everyone continued staring at him in a daze, the God of Spirits calmly looked up and said, “Peeking’s rather distasteful, you know. How about showing yourself? Ha ha.”
Suddenly, a person wearing a clown’s mask appeared in midair. “Aw shucks, you caught me. I wasn’t even looking all that much!”
“Wha— Who’re you?!” Cecil exclaimed in surprise. For some reason, she was pretty sure this clown was not a human, even though his mask made it impossible to confirm or deny her hunch.
Only one person recognized the interloper. Helmios cried in alarm, “This can’t be! Why is Greater Demonic Deity Kyubel here?!”
Wait, Greater Demonic Deity? Rehzel was “just” a Demonic Deity, so this guy’s even more powerful than him?
“Ah, Lord Helmios! It has been a while. I trust that you’ve been well, sir?” The Greater Demonic Deity made a deep bow that seemed the most superficial thing in the world.
The Hero glared at him with eyes sharper than Allen had ever seen him make. “Why are you here?!” he growled in a deep voice.
“Oh, relax! It’s not like I’d pick a fight when you’ve got the God of Spirits on your side. And I left you alive last time, didn’t I?”
“THE NERVE OF YOU!” Helmios’s hand shot to the sword on his waist, but Rohzen, now in the form of a bear, lumbered forward.
“Why are you here, then? Depending on your answer...you know. Ha ha.”
Oh! Is the God of Spirits gonna fight for us? Get him, boss!
“C’mon, I just said I’m not here to fight. But as the Strategist of the Demon Lord Army, I’ve at least gotta take a look into why we lost this time, right? That’s all I’m here for! It’d probably cost me an arm and a leg to fight with the God of Spirits.”
“Oh yeah? Wanna see if that’s all that you’d lose? Ha ha.” The God of Spirits bared his fangs and twisted his face into a ferocious snarl.
So the Demon Lord Army’s Strategist finally makes an appearance. Hmm, does that mean that Rehzel wasn’t even an officer? It took everything we had and a miracle to kill him, and he still wasn’t even an officer?! Just how massive is the Demon Lord Army as an organization?!
“Whew, check out the goose bumps on my arm! But,” Kyubel continued, “it’s too bad. Rehzel actually had potential. Really sucks that he got done in. Looks like in the end, he couldn’t manage to let go of the thing he cared about most.”
For what it was worth, Kyubel did emanate a sense of disappointment when he turned to look at the pile of ash that was gradually being carried away by the wind. However, even though it was impossible to see his face behind his mask, it was clear there was no affection whatsoever in his gaze—he was looking at a broken toy, no more and no less.
Allen racked his brains for how to interact with this Greater Demonic Deity who had made a sudden entrance as the rest of the No-life Gamers kept their guard up. Kyubel paid them no mind, keeping his gaze trained only on the remains of Demonic Deity Rehzel.
This is the self-assurance of someone who knows he’s controlling the situation. Oh, he turned our way.
“So anyhoo... One of you’s gotta be Allen, right? Go on, raise your hand!”
No one responded, including Allen.
“Well, this is awkward! C’mon, don’t be shy, just step up. On my signal. Aaaaand, forward!”
Allen remained where he was out of wariness, and his companions maintained their positions. Kyubel studied all of them in turn, acting confused.
He’s even acting like a clown. Hmm, how would he respond to this?
“Allen’s not with us anymore,” Allen said with a pained expression, breaking the silence.
“What’s that?” Kyubel’s head swiveled around to face him.
The rest of the No-life Gamers caught on that Allen was up to another one of his acts again and kept their guards up.
“Allen sacrificed himself for our sake when we were fighting the Demonic Deity just now. He...he’s completely gone. Not even his body remains,” Allen lamented, pointing to the crater.
“Wait, are you serious? So he’s been smashed to nothing and is deader than a doornail?”
“I still can’t believe it myself... The Demonic Deity was just too powerful. We have no hope left. Are you satisfied?”
Is he gonna believe this? Please forget about “Allen” already.
“Like hell I would be! You’re Allen, aren’t you?! You’re the only one here with black hair! Thanks to you ruining all my strategies, I’m in serious hot water now!”
Kyubel raised both hands up and stomped his feet in a huge fit. Apparently Greater Demonic Deity Kyubel was a great comedian who knew when to play along with jokes.
Aww, it didn’t work. Okay, moving on. Hm, so this is the guy who came up with all the strategies we saw the Demon Lord Army use.
Since he had been exposed, Allen now freely glared at Kyubel impudently. Seeing this, the Greater Demonic Deity suddenly changed his attitude too.
In a calm voice, Kyubel said, “Well, no matter. There may be more Demonic Deities coming for your life going forward. If you see them, entertain them a bit for me. Right then, see ya around.” He waved goodbye, then from his feet up, vanished into thin air.
So they now know what I look like. Oh well, not much I can do about it.
With Kyubel gone, silence filled the air. Unable to bear it any longer, Cecil blurted out, “Allen, what’re you gonna do?!”
Allen looked up. “Huh? Well... For now, let’s head back. Helmios, wanna come with?”
Demonic Deity Rehzel had been defeated, and so the champions returned to Tiamo where the queen of the elves awaited them. When she heard that Rehzel was dead, she thanked all of them from the bottom of her heart and dispatched subordinates to spread the good news to every city and refugee center.
Thus the curtain finally fell on the terrible days of war that lasted nearly two months.
＊ ＊ ＊
Three days after killing Demonic Deity Rehzel, Allen’s group was brought to the queen’s chambers in the morning. She said she wanted to properly express her gratitude on behalf of all of Rohzenheim.
Oh? There are some Elders I don’t recognize from the military meetings.
The meetings so far had only involved the queen and military leaders of Rohzenheim. Today, however, the proceedings also had a political aspect, so the Elders in charge of the country’s administrative affairs were also present.
When everyone was gathered, the queen spoke. “First of all, on behalf of all Rohzenheim: thank you, truly, for saving us and our country.”
“It was the least we could do, Your Majesty. I’m sorry about not being able to stay any longer, though, when there’s still so much left to do.”
“We could not ask any more of you! Not only did you help us defeat the monsters, you also killed a Demonic Deity and returned to us our place beneath the World Tree. We absolutely must thank you.”
Helmios was also present, but because the queen was looking directly at Allen when she spoke, Allen was the one responding. Being not all that practiced at handling such situations himself, Helmios was more than happy to let Allen navigate all the formalities.
“Um, it was actually Hero Helmios who killed Demonic Deity Rehzel,” Allen said in a firm voice. “Please ensure that all due credit goes to him.”
The generals and Elders burst into buzzing murmurs. This was the first time they had clearly heard that Rehzel had been defeated by the Hero.
Dogora did get one of Rehzel’s hearts, but it was Helmios who destroyed the other two and dealt the finishing blow, after all. So it’s technically correct.
Back when Allen first delivered the queen his report, he had asked her to give Helmios all the acclaim for killing Rehzel. He feared the commotion that would arise from being credited with the defeat of a Demonic Deity would hamper his movements. More specifically, he did not want anything getting in the way of him going to the Rank S dungeon.
