Hell Mode: Volume 4, page 5
“I am glad to see you, Your Majesty.”
A soft “oh no” escaped the lips of one of the elves as he realized that now both the queen and crown princess were trapped in this city fated to fall the very next day.
“Were you listening just now, Sophie? Tiamo is going to be destroyed tomorrow. The best we can do is hold out for one more day. I’m sorry to say this when you’ve only just arrived, but you should r—”
The queen was just about to say “run away” when she started. How did Sophie get here? This city was surrounded on all four sides by the Demon Lord Army. The generals had just been trying to convince her to evacuate, but that in itself was an impossible feat given the situation.
“Your Majesty, I’ve brought Lord Allen with me. We no longer have to worry about this war.”
Sophie’s words prompted the queen to look at the black-haired boy, as did everyone else in the room. One of the generals exclaimed, “So this is the savior promised by Lord Rohzen!”
Allen stepped forward, lowering his head respectfully. “My name is Allen. Your Majesty, Queen of Rohzenheim, I have come in response to your urgent summons.”
“W-Well done. Thank you for making the journey,” another general said. At the same time, he and the others shot Allen’s group a look, the thought, What can a mere seven people do? clearly flashing across their faces. However, they quickly smoothed their expressions and welcomed everyone.
It had been the same with Lukdraal, the general who the group had met in Nest. It would be the same even if Allen were Helmios, the Hero from the Central Continent said to be peerless on the battlefield—all these officers understood that in a war, the strength of a single man made little difference. A general had to always remain realistic; one who only saw what he wanted to see would be neglecting his duties.
Looks like they don’t all blindly believe the Sovereign of Spirits’ sleep talk. Now that their country is on the brink of collapse, I’m sure they’ve all got things they need to do instead of twiddling their thumbs and praying to some god or spirit.
The reaction of the room told Allen everything he needed to know about how the people of Rohzenheim viewed him.
“We’ve also heard of your fight with the Hero,” the queen added. “We greatly appreciate someone of your abilities fighting with us.”
As it turned out, Allen being dispatched to Rohzenheim was not due entirely to the prophecy from the Sovereign of Spirits. Word of Allen’s duel with Helmios at the Ratashian Academy several months prior had already reached this country.
“It would be my honor,” Allen replied.
“As for the current situation—”
Another military meeting? Though to be fair, this city is in danger of being overrun tomorrow, so I guess that’s important too. However, that’s even more reason to not waste what little time is left.
Just as one of the generals was about to catch Allen up to speed, he interrupted the man. “I’m sorry. Before that, I have a question: how many wounded soldiers are there here? And how many who can still fight?”
Just as in Nest, Allen thought it a waste of time participating in a discussion that did not take his abilities into consideration. The general did not look particularly offended at having been cut off so rudely. He thought about it a while.
“I believe we have around 140,000 wounded and 60,000 who can still fight.”
And from what I just saw through White Night, the Demon Lord Army has around 300,000.
Allen suspected that at the start, fewer than 100,000 had been stationed in Tiamo. However, as the war went on, soldiers wounded while fighting farther north had probably been brought here.
There are around ten magic ships docked in Nest, which means they do still have significant transporting capabilities.
Through the Spirit B staying in Nest, Allen had learned that the magic ships in Nest had been used extensively to transport wounded soldiers and refugees. However, now that Tiamo was entirely surrounded by enemy forces, there was no longer any way for those magic ships to land here.
“Thank you for the answer. In that case, please use this to get everyone back to full health as quickly as possible.” Allen took out a Blessing of Heaven from Storage and showed it off.
“Wh-What is this?”
“This is an elven elixir. This single item can fully heal enough people to fit the area of this building four times over. And when I say heal, I mean it can even regrow lost limbs.”
Even though he was talking to the queen of the elves, Allen still insisted on calling the Blessings of Heaven “elven elixirs.”
An incredulous chorus of “What?!” rang out.
“I will be leaving a thousand of these elven elixirs here,” Allen continued. “Please pass them out and prepare everyone for tomorrow’s battle.”
“But that’s... That’s impossible!” The generals could not hide their surprise. Did they think the effect was impossible? Or was it the quantity? Perhaps it was both.
Sophie gazed straight into the eyes of her mother and the generals, speaking clearly. “Everything that Lord Allen said is the truth. The 100,000 wounded soldiers in Nest should all be fully healed by tomorrow as well.”
Someone inhaled sharply, though it was not clear who.
After a pregnant pause, one of the generals asked hesitantly, “D-Does this mean we can still fight?”
“So it seems,” the queen answered, looking at Allen with gratitude. “How can we repay you?”
“Please leave that discussion for after things are over,” Allen replied. “For now, we should be focusing solely on getting through this crisis and turning things around.”
Heh heh heh, I never said I won’t ask for anything!
“However, one problem remains. If we suddenly show such large-scale movement, the forces surrounding the city might make a move.”
“There is no need to worry about that, as my companions and I will be heading out now to launch a night attack. We’ll buy you the time you need.”
“A night attack?!”
Allen flashed his usual wicked grin. “They seem to be fast asleep in their camps.”
Krena looked surprised. “You mean we’re gonna fight now?”
“That’s right.” Allen nodded. “However, Cecil and I will be moving separately. The rest of you, match our timing.”
“Okay!” Krena smiled.
The rest of the No-life Gamers nodded in acknowledgment, even though they had no idea what Allen actually had in mind. During their time with him in the dungeons, he often described ways of fighting and strategies that went completely over their heads at first. Once they followed his instructions, however, they would always reflect back on it afterward and see the logic behind what he was getting at.
“Does that mean all seven of you will be stepping foot outside the walls now?” the queen asked apprehensively.
“Not all seven,” Sophie cut in. “Volmaar, you stay here to help direct the distribution of the elven elixirs and to convey the information we learn from the battlefield.”
“Understood, Your Highness.”
Right, it’s a good idea to leave someone who fully understands the effects of the Blessings of Heaven in charge. Good call, Sophie. I should leave Ellie here too.
As the military meeting here would likely resume right after he headed out, Allen decided to have a Spirit B stand in for him here, just as he did in Nest.
“Ellie, let me know what you learn here.”
“Your will is my command, Master.”
“A SPIRIT?!” the elves cried, with some nearly falling over in shock.
“No, this is my Summon.”
The surprised elves mumbled variations of “I see” but continued staring intently at Ellie.
Wow, the elves here reacted to Ellie exactly the same way as those in Nest did. Does she really look so similar to their spirits? I’d be interested in seeing a Spirit User in action.
The Spirit User class involved directly forging a contract with a spirit and borrowing the power of said spirit to fight. Allen had learned at the Academy that this was a Talent that only elves could be born with, just like only dwarves could possess Talents for piloting golems.
“Speaking of which, I spotted some large eyeball-bat things flying in the air that looked like they were monitoring the city. They aren’t spirits, are they?” When he had used White Night just now, Allen had spotted six such creatures.
They didn’t seem friendly at all. We can shoot them down, right?
“Those are the Demon Lord Army’s scouts.”
The elves had already shot down many of these large bats, but they had been replaced in no time. As a result, the Demon Lord Army knew almost everything that was going on inside the city.
“In that case, we’ll get rid of those pesky scouts first. Once we do, please take that as the signal to begin the plan.”
The idea was for everyone to burst into action at the same time. As the bats were supposedly going to be replaced, it would be difficult to keep everything entirely under wraps. Even so, Allen’s group intended on doing everything they could to prevent the Demon Lord Army from gaining any intel.
Just as the No-life Gamers were about to head out, the queen said, “Sophie, I’m counting on you.”
The princess bowed reverently. “I will not let you down, Your Majesty.”
Even though her flesh-and-blood daughter was heading out to take on an army of 300,000, the queen made no move to stop her. Perhaps she had simply accepted this as the destiny of a member of royalty.
Allen deposited a thousand Blessings of Heaven in the room, then left the building with his companions.
“All right, let’s start with the enemy scouts. Horo, Ellie, come out.”
“Hoot!”
“So we’re squishing the enemy’s eyes!”
As the cooldown for White Night was a full day, Allen was now using a fresh Bird D Summon. After confirming the exact locations of the bats in the sky, he then instructed the Spirit B at his side to get rid of them all. The Spirit B inside with the queen immediately reported about the bats’ disposal, surprising everyone in attendance with how swiftly Allen had taken care of the issue. By this time, he had already moved on to the next step of his plan.
“Okay, we’re heading to the north gate. That’s where the largest group of monsters is.”
The range of White Night’s effects had included the area outside the walls too. Allen already had a full grasp of where the Demon Lord Army forces were located as well as their numbers.
Tiamo was a squarish city around five kilometers on each side. It was protected by stalwart walls that towered ten meters high with a gate at each cardinal direction. Currently, the Demon Lord Army had 30,000 troops camped one kilometer away from each of the four gates for a total of 120,000 troops. To prevent the elves from escaping southward, the direction not yet under the Army’s control, another 50,000 were spread out to the left and right of the southern camp. The remaining 130,000 were all clustered together to the north in what was very likely the main camp.
This main camp was Allen’s target, as there were simply more monsters to kill; concentrating there would deal the most damage to the enemy’s command structure. So, he called out the Bird Bs and soared back up into the sky with his party. This night was so dark that they could travel without drawing any attention so long as they maintained an altitude of one kilometer. Without further delay, they headed for the city’s north gate.
Once beyond the wall, the group made a detour around the closer group of 30,000. Upon flying for three more kilometers, the main camp came into view. They found it sprawled over a surprisingly large area. As the Demon Lord Army was composed of monsters Rank B and above, they were all significantly larger than humans. Many of them were even taller than five meters.
There’s supposed to be three million attacking Rohzenheim, right? If there’s 300,000 attacking Tiamo, where’re the rest of them? Hmm, this is something I need to look into.
The No-life Gamers landed about a kilometer east of the main camp.
“Are we gonna charge straight in from here?”
“That’s right, Krena. The monsters in this corner are the easiest to fight against.”
“Okay!”
The type that they were going to engage would not be able to follow them if they were to take to the air, making it easy for them to retreat should the need arise. Just in case, Allen instructed his companions to ride tandem if anyone’s Bird B got done in. The Bird Bs were as big as elephants, meaning they could comfortably carry three people on their backs.
“Doras and Cerbys, come out,” Allen called, Summoning thirty Dragon Bs and ten Beast Bs. “Doras, focus on covering as large an area as possible with your Fire Breath. Cerby, prioritize defeating the odd Rank A when one shows up.”
“You got it, Master! Leave the riffraff to us!”
“Yes, Master! I’ll go for the head!”
The newest type of Summon that had appeared when Allen obtained Summoning Lvl. 7 was Dragon. Dragon B specialized in dealing long-distance AoE damage, but even its Awakened Ability was insufficient for killing the Demon Lord Army’s Rank A monsters in one strike. This was where Beast B came in. Beast B was specialized for dealing close-distance, single-target focus damage, and its Awakened Ability was even more suited for this role.
With Quick Summoning, Allen swiftly buffed everyone with the Fish-type Summons’ Abilities and Awakened Abilities. At the same time, Sophie and Keel did the same with all the spells at their disposal. From up in the sky, Bird D confirmed that the Demon Lord Army had not reacted at all to the faint glows of light caused by all the buffing. It continued keeping a careful eye out for even the slightest of movements.
“Okay, we should be good now. Cecil, you’ll be riding with me and attacking from above.”
“All right.”
“Everyone else, when you see our attack land, that’s your signal to get started too. Dogora, don’t charge too far in and get surrounded.”
“Huh? Like hell I will! Trust me, I got this.”
“Doras, Cerbys—rampage to your hearts’ content.”
“You bet we will!”
“Yes, Master!”
After giving a few more instructions, Allen headed up into the sky with Cecil riding behind him on his Bird B. Up and up they went, until they were a kilometer above the enemy camp.
They haven’t noticed us yet. If they had a proper lookout, they should have. I guess they just never expected to get attacked from above, since the elves have no way of doing so.
Allen confirmed that the Army’s troops were fast asleep down below. During his time serving House Granvelle, Allen had learned through fighting goblins and orcs that, with the exception of a few undead types, the monsters of this world needed food and sleep just like any other living being. This was why the Demon Lord Army was not attacking during the night. Fighting for a full month straight had probably taken a certain toll on them too.
I don’t see any elves they captured. Did they eat them all?
Despite having brought down dozens of elven settlements so far, there were no hostages in sight.
Welp, this is something you guys started. Now you get to atone for it with your lives.
“All right, Cecil, they’re all yours. No rush.”
“Okay. Give me a moment.”
Using one’s greatest attack for the opening move against an unsuspecting enemy was just common sense. Allen’s Stone Es had served this role thus far, but no longer. The girl currently with him had entirely outstripped him in this department.
Cecil closed her eyes to concentrate. Right away, a heat haze sprang up around her body.
Nice, she pulled it off.
As Allen watched, Cecil thrust both hands up into the air. Her eyes abruptly flew open.
“Petit Meteooor!!!”
A giant boulder burning red-hot suddenly came streaking down from the sky. After Krena, Cecil had been the next to succeed in learning how to activate her Extra Skill. The name of her Extra Skill was “Petit Meteor,” a misnomer given the size of it. In the blink of an eye, the “petit” meteoroid enveloped in flames that measured dozens of meters across crashed directly into the Army’s main camp, blasting both monsters and earth sky-high.
The roar of impact, loud enough to be heard all the way back in Tiamo, signaled the start of the night attack.
The monsters directly underneath the meteorite had been pulverized, and there was now a huge crater. Many monsters that had not been crushed were still blown to pieces or burnt to mere ashes before they even knew what had hit them. The scene of pure carnage looked like something straight out of hell. Some of the larger creatures’ screams and roars even reached Allen one kilometer up in the sky.
So this is the power of a perfected Extra Skill. I hope Krena gets to this point someday. It’s probably gonna take a while for my grimoire’s log to catch up, but I think that took out about 10,000 of them.
Although it was indeed Krena who had been the first among Allen’s companions to activate her Extra Skill, Cecil was the first capable of doing so in a perfected state. Since it was an AoE attack and the enemies had been quite clustered together, the damage it caused was nothing short of devastating. Allen’s log was flying by faster than his eyes could keep up with.
“Phew, there we go.” Cecil pursed her lips. “It’s too bad Extra Skills can only be used once per day.”
There was a certain randomness to Extra Skills. Even those sharing the same class were not guaranteed the same Extra Skill; there was often a variety. In Cecil’s case, Petit Meteor required all of her MP, so she could only use it when she had full MP. It was a very wizard-like skill indeed.
The cooldown for the overwhelming majority of Extra Skills was one full day. It was rumored that there was equipment that could shorten cooldown time as well as expendable items that allowed users to immediately use their Extra Skill again, but Allen had yet to corroborate any of those rumors.
After nearly two full years of dungeon delving, Cecil had saved up around five thousand gold. She had used almost all that money to bid on a ring that gave her +1,000 Intelligence and another one that gave +1,000 MP, practically staking her entire fortune on increasing the damage of her Extra Skill.
