Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~

"We're still on time, right Allen?"

Cecile was worried if they had gotten there soon enough.

"Yes, Cecile. Though just barely."

(There's Princess Shea. Wait, they're Extra Skills everywhere.)

It was clear many of the soldiers there were actively using their Extra Skills.

Usually that only happened when fighting the Demon King's Army, and when a fortification was about to fall.

Most Extra Skills also had a one day cooldown, so they could not be used willy-nilly.

As an A Rank monster approached, a few soldiers unleashed their Extra Skills.

Their defenses broken and their means to retaliate lost, they knew they had nothing left but their Extra Skills, which they used as a last ditch effort.

But that was just a momentary boost in power. Once it ran out, they would either have to resign themselves to their fate, or abandon the fort.

Luckily Allen managed to arrive before either of those options became a reality.

"H-hey, they're shooting arrows at us. Are you sure it's okay to get close?"

"It's fine, we won't be able to fight together if we don't talk first. Just keep your shield high and protect us, Dogora."

Saying that, Allen and Cecile went behind Dogora's shield, or more like they used Dogora as their shield.

Prince Zew spoke of Shea with pride and respect, so Allen wanted to greet her properly.

"This isn't fine, not at all!!"

Dogora was losing his mind, but the Bird B summon continued approaching the wall where Princess Shea was fighting, so she would notice them.

Commander Lud had stopped the archers before they fired, so while the bows were tense, no arrows were shot.

Dogora, Allen, and Cecile jumped down onto the wall.

"Who are you?"

Commander Lud asked the strangers that had appeared so suddenly.

"I'm Allen, the S Rank Adventurer, I've come to assist you. I supposed you're Princess Shea and her men?"

Lud had asked him, so he answered by stating his title and objective, loud enough for Shea to hear as well.

Allen would never call himself the S Rank Adventurer unless he was being watched with so much wariness.

"Alllen? The same Allen that helped my brother?"

She knew right away who he was.

Zew had mentioned he was regularly in contact with her through letters.

"Yes, that's me. Prince Zew asked me to come assist you."

"Geh?!"

A revolted expression took over Shea's face for an instant, but she composed herself soon after.

She did not seem to be fond of the idea of Prince Zew saving her from a pinch.

Zew was a lion beastman, but for some reason Shea was a tiger.

They were siblings, but since they were of different species, it was likely they came from different mothers. Maybe that difference was what made her disgusted hearing his name.

(This isn't the time to think about that stuff though.)

Shea was known as the Warrior Princess, and Zew had mentioned she had a fierce and proud personality.

She also was more accepting of war and violence, which was why the Giamut Empire preferred interacting with Zew, who had a more calm and gentle personality.

Because of what he had heard, Allen thought Shea would attack him the moment he encountered her, but she did not show any signs of doing so.

The reason for that was that she still embraced the heavily wounded Rath.

Her face was filled with kindness for him, drawing a completely different image from that one would get hearing the words Warrior Princess.

"We also brought medicine. He seems badly wounded so let's not waste any time."

Saying that, Allen took out a Heaven's Blessing from his Inventory and used it, healing Rath and all the beastmen and mermaids in its effect's radius.

Shea and Allen continued to talk, but the Pagan Worshippers continued throwing themselves at the wall trying to knock it down.

"You really are the way they describe you. But I hope you understand that even if you help us, there's nothing I can do to repay you."

If Allen's group wanted some sort of reward, Shea would not be able to provide it.

"Of course. We're here to kill all the Pagan Worshippers after all."

(It looks like he was bitten, I'll use an Aromatic Vegetable as well.)

Allen also activated the effects from one Aromatic Vegetable.

"T-this is a miracle..."

Rath was on the brink of death, his consciousness fading to darkness, but it was pulled back, and then he checked the wound on his shoulder.

Thanks to the effect from the Aromatic Vegetable, the black shadow was seeping out from his body.

"Pagan Worshippers? And what was that thing right now?"

"Well, you won't turn into one of those half frog things now, so don't worry about anything. I'll explain in more detail later."

"Seriously?! But okay, later then."

There was not enough time to give a detailed explanation.

Allen wanted to prioritize defending their position, the wall raised with magic which was about to crumble from the constant attacks.

Princess Shea nodded, thinking the same.

Allen got rid of the Bird B summon, using the freed slot to summon a Bird E instead.

It flew high above the battlefield and activated its Awakened Skill [Clairvoyance].

(Hmm, they're really doing their best to surround us. There's even more that keep entering my view.)

There were even more coming from far away.

Clairvoyance had a radius of a hundred kilometers, letting Allen see anything contained within with much detail.

He also saw the traces of past battles, dead Pagan Worshippers and monsters strewn about.

There had been beastmen casualties as well, but no matter how many times they were attacked, it was clear they continued fighting back without giving up.

"Cecile, we've officially accepted a request for help from Princess Shea. Let's give it our best. Why don't you start by raising the heat in here, as wildly as you can."

"Huh? Ah, got it."

Cecile stepped forward.

Her body was covered by a heat haze that distorted her figure slightly as she activated her Extra Skill [Small Meteorite].

"""Wha-?!"""

Small Meteorite had an incredibly large area of effect.

Everything they could see from atop the wall was within her attack radius.

The large red-hot rock fell around a kilometer away from them.

That way most of the monsters and Pagan Worshippers that were on their way there would die.

The water in the wetlands and swamps began boiling and evaporating away.

Steaming lumps of mud and dirt were scattered everywhere.

There was a shockwave that seemed to shake everything around them, while the aftershocks could be felt on the wall.

The soldiers struggled to remain on firm ground as they watched how Cecile's Extra Skill [Small Meteorite] changed the terrain itself.

"I'll go attack the other sides now."

"Sure, but leave the big ones alive. I want to turn them into minions."

"Oh, alright then."

Saying that, Cecile walked past the beastmen soldiers that starred with their eyes wide open in shock.

Now it was also easier for the magic troops to see the enemy.

They adjusted their position slightly, and took aim at the Pagan Worshippers and monsters.

Their magic Skills obeyed different rules than Kurena's.

Merus had explained before that a different God oversaw them, so their Skills were also different.

Cecile could use four elements, Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Light. But she had a total of 24 different types of magic at her disposal.

That was because they varied depending on her Skill Level, which was 6.

That also meant that as her Skill Level went up, she would keep getting stronger. The same applied to Dogora's Attack Skills.

For instance, her Fire Magic spells were like this:

Fire Magic Level 1 [Fire]: A single-target spell

Damage scales with Intelligence.

Cast time 3 seconds.

Mana cost 5.

Cooldown 5 seconds. Fire Magic Level 2 [Flame Lance]: Can strike multiple targets.

Damage and area of effect scale with Intelligence.

Cast time 6 seconds.

Mana cost 20.

Cooldown 10 seconds. Fire Magic Level 3 [Mega Fire]: A single-target spell

Damage scales with Intelligence.

Cast time 15 seconds.

Mana cost 30.

Cooldown 1 minute. Fire Magic Level 4 [Flame Line]: Can strike multiple targets.

Damage and area of effect scale with Intelligence.

Cast time 30 seconds.

Mana cost 100.

Cooldown 3 minutes. Fire Magic Level 5 [Flare]: A single-target spell

Damage scales with Intelligence.

Cast time 1 minute.

Mana cost 200.

Cooldown 5 minutes. Fire Magic Level 6 [Inferno]: Can strike multiple targets.

Damage and area of effect scale with Intelligence.

Cast time 3 minutes.

Mana cost 500.

Cooldown 10 minutes.

The higher the Skill Level, the higher the damage, and they would switch between single-target and multiple-target spells with each level.

"Flame Lance"

Countless spears of fire rained on the Pagan Worshippers and monsters.

"Huh? Fire Magic? Why fire in this place?"

"H-how can she cast such powerful spells so quickly?"

Everyone in the magic troops were shocked seeing Cecile's power.

They lost their focus, and even though they had honed their skills by training methodically for years, they began failing their casts, magic exploding in their faces.

They knew the Pagan Worshippers and monsters attacking them were resilient against fire.

That was why they focused their efforts on freezing their advance with Ice Magic, and then hit them with their weakness, Lightning Magic.

But Cecile did not seem to care about that in the least, instantly burning the enemy to ashes with Fire Magic.

Once the ashes settled, new monsters and Pagan Worshippers would take their place, which let the beastmen come to a conclusion.

Cecile was actually trying to sweep the enemy clean.

She wanted them to get close, so she burned off everything in the vicinity, including those monsters that could no longer move after being frozen through.

That left a huge open space, allowing for more enemies to get closer.

"Ugh they're in the way. Flare."

"""Wha-?!"""

She raised her palm up, calling forth a massive bundle of fire.

Her objective was to get rid of the lumps of ice and rock scattered in front of the wall.

The magic troops had worked hard creating them to break the enemy's advance.

Cecile saw them as a hindrance to her attacks, so she blew them away with Fire Magic.

Seeing how easily she destroyed them let the magic troops understand just how powerful she was.

Ice and rocks formed with magic could only be destroyed by someone with more Intelligence.

Cecile had destroyed everything the magic troops built together, with a single attack.

It really made one wonder just how powerful Cecile was.

Cecile wore two rings that increased her Intelligence by 5000 each.

She also used the Mystic Staff she obtained by slaying an Iron Golem, which increased her Intelligence by a further 8000.

In total, she had roughly 25000 Intelligence.

She surpassed even Merus when it came to raw Intelligence.

The beastmen in the magic troops ranged between 3000 and 5000 Intelligence, even with all their equipment.

There were about a hundred members in the magic troops.

They had split into groups of five to ten, combining their magic to somewhat keep the monsters at bay.

Cecile was doing a lot more on her own than all of them combined.

The spearmen at the frontlines had been struggling fighting the enemy constantly, but in just a few minutes after Cecile's arrival, there was only empty space for many meters around the wall.

By joining the fight, Cecile had made the magic troops redundant, and the spearmen troops as well.

"More monsters are about to arrive from the right and left. Could you split your men into two groups to take care of them?"

While constantly using her spells, Cecile began giving the troop's commanding officer orders.

"A-alright."

She could take care of the front on her own.

The commanding officer was still a bit shocked as he stuttered an answer.

The spearmen also split into two, going to each side.

"So the spearmen are also splitting up. Well, I'll go to the left side then, and Dogora can go to the right."

"Wait, so Cecile gets the front all for herself?"

Allen also joined the fight, going to one of the sides where the monsters were arriving.

"Yeah, she'll be fine. Isn't that right, Orochi?"

'''Yes, no problem. Graahhhh!!'''

(That roar was completely unnecessary.)

""H-hieee?!'''

Allen was done observing the surroundings, so he got rid of the Bird E summon, and used the free slot to summon a Dragon E, which looked like a hydra with 5 heads.

Seeing that hundred meter long figure appear, the beastmen and Clebeur's soldiers shook in fear.

The five heads faced three different directions, spewing flames which scorched monsters and Pagan Worshippers.

The Insect A summons spread along the convoy, protecting the people from enemies heading that way.

There had been some monsters and Pagan worshippers that ignored the wall behind the convoy, and instead headed straight for the people.

"Everything's under control so far."

(I think this will work.)

"Is that so?"

Allen had said that to himself, but Princess Shea heard it and responded.

She was finally witnessing the power her brother described to her, the S Rank Adventurer's party, who had conquered the S Rank Dungeon.

"Yes. I don't think it should take much longer to kill all of them. Once we're done defending this spot, I'll move forward and search for any remaining monsters in a wider radius. You should start thinking about what your next move will be when that happens."

Allen had already considered the battle as won.

At the pace they were going, it would only take around half a day to finish killing the enemy there.

"Alright. Lud, Rath, form two platoons."

""As you wish!!""

Allen wanted her to think about it while he finished killing the monsters, but Shea came to a decision almost instantly.

One platoon would accompany the people of Clebeur, and the other would go with Allen to hunt the remaining monsters.

And that way Allen's group managed to integrate with Princess Shea's forces.