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

"Commander Lud…"

"Please…wake up…

"I can't believe he would…"

A crowd formed around Princess Shea and Lud, whose body had already gotten cold.

Some of them were already expressing their condolences in whatever way they could.

A distance away, Allen and his party were looking at the sky outside, past the largely destroyed temple walls.

There were neither plants or animals living on the floating island, and now a large round rock had burrowed itself into the rocky ground.

That was Cecile's [Small Meteorite].

While the rock was larger than a hundred meters, the entire island was around ten kilometers long and eight kilometers wide, so the 'Small Meteorite' did not seem all that large compared to the rest of it.

"So we actually defeated him."

The fight had been so violent and long that Cecile still felt unsure about their victory.

"It says that we defeated a Demon Great General."

Kurena checked the Grimoire together with Allen.

'Hahah, I'm glad you got to defeat him. I was just at my limit.'

The Spirit God Rosen struck out his squirrel head towards Sophie, demanding head pats in reward for working so hard.

She cuddled him onto her chest, happily doing as he wished.

"Alright, thank you all for fighting alongside me again. It was a rather stressful fight this time."

(But I gained six levels thanks to it! Now time to congratulate those who rose a head above the rest. Wait, before that…)

"Kiel, use God's Drop on Commander Lud."

"Ah, right."

Answering like that, Kiel went into the crowd of beastmen, making way through them.

They let him pass as they could all see the glowing jewel on his staff, so they assumed he was going to pray to Elmea in Lud's honor.

"I'm sorry I took a bit to get here."

"Hm?"

Shea was still next to Lud, and she was confused hearing Kiel say that.

Then Kiel joined his hands as if to pray, and activated his Extra Skill [God's Drop].

A drop of light seemed to fall from the heavens.

It fell onto Lud's body, enveloping him in light.

"W-where am I…"

"C-Comanderrrr!!"

"He-he came back to life!!"

"This is a miracle. We've witnessed a miracle."

Kiel wore two rings which increased his Intelligence by 5000 each, easily pushing him past the 10'000 Intelligence barrier.

His Extra Skill [God's Drop] could revive someone, the success chances increasing with Intelligence. Kiel could use it with a success rate of 100%.

"I'm sorry, during the fight I didn't know how many people would die, so I didn't know who to prioritize."

"Hm? Ah, I see. Thanks."

Lud could not quite understand what Kiel had just said, but he thanked him regardless.

If Allen had died during the fight, Kiel would have revived him instantly.

Without Allen, Merus would probably vanish as well, even if they had no definite proof.

That was the main reason why Allen was the only one who would be revived before the fight ended.

Kiel's explanation also made Shea stop from asking "Why didn't you do it sooner?"

Everyone knew they were doing their best to achieve a victory while fighting earlier.

(I'm pretty happy with today's haul. I feel like Cecile has always been in charge of dealing the final blow lately though.)

Allen felt like he had obtained something more valuable than his levels in the orichalcum greatsword and Luvanka's Sacred Bead.

Demon Generals gained an immense number of stats when transforming, and even more for Demon Great Generals.

An exceedingly powerful attack or magic was needed to kill such a Demon General or Demon Great General.

So far the only spells powerful enough were Merus' Awakened Skill [Judgement Thunder] and Cecile's Extra Skill [Small Meteorite].

Ever since the fight in the Holy Land, it was always Cecile's [Small Meteorite] dealing the final blow.

But Allen felt like he saw a new candidate in front of him now.

"Good job Dogora, think you can stand up yet?"

"Thanks, and not yet, too tired."

(I didn't expect Dogora to be the first one to get out of Normal Mode.)

[Name] Dogora

[Age] 15

[Blessings] Goddess of Fire (Smallest), Fire Resistance

[Talent] Barbarian King

[Level] 66

[Strength] 4569

[Mana] 2135

[Attack] 4828

[Endurance] 4075

[Agility] 3197

[Intelligence] 1973

[Luck] 3012

[Skills] Barbarian King (1), True Full-Body (1), True Bombing Defeat (1), True Peerless Slash (1), True Wicked Blow (2), Body and Soul (1), Axemanship (6), Shield Technique (4)

[Experience] 0 / 3000'000'000

Skill Level:

[Barbarian King] 1

[True Full-Body] 1

[True Bombing Defeat] 1

[True Peerless Slash] 1

[True Wicked Blow] 2

[Body and Soul] 1

Skill Experience:

[True Full-Body] 0 / 100

[True Bombing Defeat] 0 / 100

[True Peerless Slash] 0 / 100

[True Wicked Blow] 400 / 1000

[Body and Soul] 1757 / 10'000

(His stats are all over the place now. I guess I can safely assume he's entered Extra Mode.)

Allen compared them to his own stats in Hell Mode.

[Name] Allen

[Age] 15

[Talent] Summoner

[Level] 91

[Strength] 3615 + 4000

[Mana] 5740 + 2200

[Attack] 2012 + 12000

[Endurance] 2012 + 5600

[Agility] 3743 + 15400

[Intelligence] 5750 + 4400

[Luck] 37430 + 2000

[Skills] Summoner (8), Create (8), Synthesis (8), Strengthening (8), Awakening (8), Grimoire Expansion (7), Inventory, Sharing, Fast Summon, Equivalent Exchange, Command, Kingship, Delete, Swordsmanship (5), Throwing (3)

[Experience] 0 / 100'000'000'000'000

Skill Level:

[Summoner] 8

[Create] 8

[Synthesis] 8

[Strengthening] 8

[Awakening] 8

Skill Experience:

[Create] ~400'000'000 / 10'000'000'000

[Synthesis] ~400'000'000 / 10'000'000'000

[Strengthening] ~8500'000'000 / 10'000'000'000

[Awakening] ~500'000'000 / 10'000'000'000

Summons Acquired:

[Insect] A B C D E F G H

[Beast] A B C D E F G H

[Bird] A B C D E F G

[Grass] A B C D E F

[Stone] A B C D E

[Fish] A B C D

[Wraith] A B C

[Dragon] A B

[Angel] A

Holder:

[Insect] A x 7

[Beast]

[Bird] A x 10

[Grass]

[Stone] A x 10

[Fish] A x 1

[Wraith] A x 1

[Dragon] A x 50

[Angel] A x 1

The longer Allen looked at Dogora's stats, the stranger they seemed.

First, he had a blessing from the Goddess of Fire Freya, just like Sophie had one from the Spirit God Rosen.

It was the smallest blessing.

Maybe that was the reason why Dogora could not move now, even though his Strength had recovered completely.

Then he had also gone up six levels.

That meant he had crossed the 60 cap, and continued leveling up like Allen.

He needed three billion Experience points to reach level 67.

Body and Soul, which was once listed as an Extra Skill, was now amongst his regular ones.

It seemed to be a common part of his Talent's Skill Tree now.

But he needed a hundred times more Experience to level it up, compared to his other Skills.

Allen hoped that meant the increase in power would match that difference.

Allen had verified before that Extra Skills were treated as regular Skills in Extra Mode.

Everything he knew pointed at Dogora having moved from Normal Mode to Extra Mode.

His overall level had carried over from Normal Mode, but his Skill Levels had been resetted to 1.

The four Attack Skills he had gained in Normal Mode were also available right away, though all at Level 1.

Then there was the prefix 'True' at the start of each one.

Maybe all of his Skills had gotten reworked when moving to Extra Mode.

That reminded Allen that Basque would also shout 'True something or other' when using his Skills.

The Skill [Fighting Spirit] had also vanished from his Skills.

He would probably gain it back once he leveled up his Barbarian King Talent.

(Let's see what happens if Cecile shoots some Fire Magic at him. I want to know how much damage he takes in his exhausted state.)

There were way too many unknown things Allen still had to verify.

He was mostly curious about Dogora's Fire Resistance.

He also wanted to know more about the Divine Artifact that lay next to Dogora, shaped like a battleaxe.

"You really helped a lot taking Basque out like that."

"...I never thought the day would come when you'd praise me."

Dogora had emerged victorious from his fight against Basque, a Demon Great General.

They fought essentially one-on-one, and Dogora cut him in half with just one strike.

Basque had fled before he received a killing blow, but that was plenty to show the party had found a member that could take down Demon Generals with fire.

Kurena's stats were all balanced neatly, but she lacked a Skill that would allow her to take down one enemy with one extremely powerful attack.

Allen was glad knowing one of his frontliners possessed a Skill that could dictate the flow of battle.

Dogora looked slightly embarrassed hearing Allen praise him.

While that was going on, Merle arrived and entered through the ceiling which Merus had opened with his Awakened Skill [Judgement Thunder].

"Ohh, you're all still alive!!"

"Yeah, Dogora was amazing back there."

"Ohh, he's always amazing though!"

"?!"

Merle had not witnessed the fight inside the temple, but she accepted it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Dogora had always been putting in a tremendous amount of effort so that he could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his friends on the frontlines.

Dogora felt a bit shaky hearing Merle say he was always amazing.

Then he turned red recalling his experience watching the waning flame with Freya.

"Dogora, what happened during that moment though?"

Everyone was deeply curious to learn what happened after Basque impaled him with Flamberge, and Dogora went up in a pillar of fire before being reborn.

"Ah, that…"

The beastmen were celebrating Lud's resurrection and Shea's Beast King mode.

Allen's party were around Dogora, curious to know what had happened to him.

'...Breehee!'

"""Wha-?!"""

The Arbiter God that been laying completely still against the temple wall, as if it had died, neighed loudly.

(Hm, I forgot he was here too.)

It had been there since the middle of the fight, completely still after being taken off the frontlines. Now everyone was looking at him.

That was the God of Judgement, who looked like a mythical qilin. Together with Basque he had been a menace that Merus could hardly contain.

He seemed to remember what happened during the fight with Basque, looking nervously around.

The beastmen started asking each other what was happening.

Shea knew the power of the Arbiter God, so she quickly took a defensive stance, and the beastmen followed suit.

"Cecile and the rest of you, stand back."

Cecile, Sophie, and Kiel, all retreated to the backlines.

They could not take any chances against the Arbiter God's frontal kicks.

But Dogora's injuries to his front legs were still present, both legs broken, and Basque's hand piercing into his neck had left it bleeding.

'Bree…hee…'

Thumb

He neighed without strength, and after an attempt to stand up it began to wobble and fell down again.

His eyes were focused on Kurena and the rest, slowly approaching him.

(Hmm, the Arbiter God doesn't seem to have long left to live. I wonder if I'll gain any levels by defeating him.)

Defeating a Demon General gave him one level.

Defeating a Demon Great General gave him five levels.

Allen wondered how many levels he would gain by slaying a Higher God like the Arbiter God.

"Are your legs okay? Does it hurt?"

(Wha-?!)

"Hey, Kurena!"

Allen shouted in confusion.

Kurena had returned her weapon to her back, and quickly walked to the Arbiter God's side.

'...'

"""..."""

The Arbiter God made no sound, simply looking at Kurena intently.

Allen's friends also had their eyes glued to her.

With everyone's attention focused on her, she checked the Arbiter God's broken legs.

Dogora's powerful attack had pulverized the bones in the Arbiter's God's legs.

It was impossible for him to stand up again like that.

"I'm sure it was really painful. Wait a little, okay?"

Kurena hastily began to look through the bag on her belt.

All of Allen's friends carried a small bag like that, holding only the bare minimum weight so it would not hamper their fighting capabilities.

They were filled with Heaven's Blessings, since one never knew what could happen while fighting.

But their earlier fight had been so violent that Kurena found her bag empty.

Seeing that, she trotted to Allen's side.

"Huh?"

"Give me a Heaven's Blessing!"

Kurena stretched her hand, her palm flat and ready to receive the item.

"...Alright. But be careful."

(It's an elven miracle medicine after all.)

"I know, thanks."

Allen hesitated for a second, but eventually decided to give Kurena what she wanted.

Kurena thanked him with a smile and ran back to the Arbiter God.

'...'

"Everything will be fine now. Allen's medicine is incredible!"

The Arbiter God kept looking at Kurena as she activated the Heaven's Blessing.

The Arbiter God's body began to glow.

His broken front legs and the wound on his neck from Basque began to heal.

All the scratches and scars all over his body began to fade as well.

And the murderous look in his eyes began to soften too, eventually vanishing entirely.

The Arbiter God seemed to be aware of the change that had happened in his body, and the source of it.

He slowly stood up.

And moved its head closer to Kurena.

'Bururu~'

Lick Lick

Together with a soft and kind growl he began licking Kurena's cheek.

"Ahahah! That tickles! But I'm glad you can stand up again!"

Kurena beamed a smile seeing the Arbiter God recovered.

Seeing her joyous look, Allen was reminded of the time she fed the small White Dragon.

Sometimes Kurena would show a rather motherly side, which was at full display now.

'What is your name, my helper?'

"Eh? You can talk, horsey? I'm Kurena though."

The Arbiter God was nothing more than a horse in Kurena's mind.

But since he asked her name, she gave it to him.

"Kurena. I shall commit that name to memory. I'm the Arbiter God Pharnemes, loyal servant of the God of Law."

Saying that, the Arbiter God's hoofs clacked on the floor as he headed towards the destroyed wall of the temple.

Once he was out, he continued walking on the air, as if there were solid steps below him.

"And there he goes."

"I know. I'm glad it ended like this though."

"Yeah."

They all watched as the Arbiter God became a small speck in the distance. At first Allen was rather disappointed with that outcome, but then decided it was better to honor Kurena's wishes.

That way the Arbiter God recovered its health and left, marking Allen's party's complete victory.