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

Allen's group was going through the Gate of Fang's third level.

This one also kept everyone at edge, and they spent 7 days there.

"There's spears coming from the left!!"

"Got it!!"

Allen's Bird E summon let him see 1000 spears, longer than 10 meters in size, falling at them.

The third level had weapons thrown at them constantly.

They would be launched at them without needing trap switches to be thrown.

'Graaaaahh!!'

Haku spat flames and burned the incoming projectiles. Sophie's spirits built a wall, and Tam-Tam used its large body to shield Allen's group.

All the attacks had made Haku gain [Physical Resistance].

Allen had his own defenses, and Kurena had high Agility to evade, but the rest were in danger.

Most of the spears were blocked, but one got through and headed towards Luck.

"Luck, evade!!"

"Huh? Wah!!"

It would be too late, so Allen tried to use his Stone C summon to protect him.

But someone else reacted faster, Mouton's body swelled up to cover Luck's body and hardened.

The spear hit Mouton's solidified body, splitting apart and turning to ash.

'Focus now!'

"Thank you, Mouton."

Mouton had protected Luck of his own will. It was hard to say whether Mouton had any actual eyes, but somehow he could fend off any attack that would harm Luck.

Luck was still behind in his Talent Stars compared to the rest, but now he could be safe.

(So that's a Great Spirit. A mythril spear had no effect, so he's as strong as a Demon General.)

Allen was already making notes about the Great Spirit's strength.

[The strength of spirits]

-Initial Spirits: D Rank to C Rank

-Young Spirits: C Rank to B Rank (spirits used by Sophie)

-Spirits: A Rank to S Rank (spirits used by Sophie)

-Great Spirits: S Rank to Demon General (like Mouton)

-Spirit King: Fabre

-Spirit God: Rosen

It could vary a bit depending on the type of enemy a spirit fought, but that was roughly it.

Even though they had formed a pact, Luck could not control Mouton at will. All he could do was decide when the Extra Skill [Noxious Tsunami] was activated.

Sophie with her 4 Star Talent could not control a Great Spirit either, she would need 5 Stars.

Undergoing a Talent Change kept all previous pacts.

Allen started picking up the fallen spears, including those made of hihiirokane or adamantite.

"We should catch a Great Spirit for Sophie too."

Allen acted like he was catching a monster inside a spherical capsule as he said that.

If Sophie underwent another Talent Change she would be able to manifest Great Spirits, and Allen knew she would gain another Extra Skill if she formed a pact with one.

"Th-that's true. I don't think catch is the correct term though."

Sophie explained how one could only make a pact with a single Spirit God or King, but Great Spirits did not have such limitations.

"Ohh that's orichalcum!!"

"Looks like it."

Kurena picked up a spear. There were orichalcum weapons on that floor too.

Orichalcum was rare, but all those weapons would help Allen's and the Hero's Armies.

Apparently Baukis had also started building a specialized army, called Galara's Army.

They had plenty of golem pilots and magic engineers too, with thousands of members.

That had started after Giamut's emperor would not stop gloating about the Heros' Army.

Allen had provided them with plenty of mythril-class golems from the S Rank Dungeon's loot.

In the future all armies would join together to fight the Demon King.

'Are you done picking things up? Then get a move on!!'

Allen was busy thinking of how to distribute the weapons when Mouton raised his voice.

He was obsessed with whatever lay in front of them, probably thinking of what happened before.

They also kept defeating the dinosaur monsters with bodies covered in weapons.

Most of them were A Rank, giving millions of EXP each, which boosted Kurena and Haku's Levels.

"Wait, doesn't that look a bit suspicious?"

"Hm? You're right, let's try going there."

They headed to a large pile of weapons, with swords of all sizes.

They had still not found how to reach the next level. There Luck took a step forward.

"Mouton, can you do it?"

'Of course.'

After asking Mouton on his shoulder, Luck's body became blurry like he was in a heat haze.

(Hmm, so he can use his Extra Skill without issue, unlike Dogora.)

"Let's go! Noxious Tsunami!!"

Luck used all his Mana to activate his Extra Skill.

A wave of purple, green, and blue tones swallowed the pile of swords.

The pile began to move, but the blades quickly rusted over and dissolved into the wave.

If they had gotten any closer the swords would have started shooting off at them.

Luck's wave had disarmed them first, except the hihiirokane, adamantite, and orichalcum ones.

"Deflect them, Mirrors."

'...'

Allen's Stone B summons silently protected the group.

As the weapons were shot, the pile became smaller.

"There's a cave! Maybe we can get to the next level there!!"

Cecile noticed an entrance under the pile of weapons.

"Alright, we'll go in there after we pick everything up."

They quickly did that and headed into the cave, which went on for a long distance.

There was a larger room in the end, with the thing the group had been searching for.

"Ohh! It's a gate! And the Gatekeeper!!"

Luck knew they would be fighting the Gatekeeper soon.

Flap flap

Megadeth came, flapping his rainbow wings.

'Hey, didn't expect to see you all here in one piece. Maybe the dungeon was too easy after all.'

"Not at all, it was a valuable experience."

Allen tried to be as polite as possible. Everyone remained on guard, knowing what happened to Fabre.

'Hmm, somehow it feels like you're annoyed with me. That happens every time though. So, do you want to challenge the Gatekeeper?'

"More or less how strong is the Gatekeeper?"

'Hm? I'd say he's more than twice as strong as the Gate of Claw's.'

(So it could even be three times stronger. That's S Rank or Demon General level.)

Asking that made Megadeth's presence worth it.

"I see. We'll prepare a bit first before challenging the Gatekeeper then."

Megadeth took them out of the gate and they headed to the S Rank Dungeon.

(Alright, time to rack in those Levels.)

Allen had learned that the Dragon King had been there before, so he asked Digragni if Haku could also get in the S Rank Dungeon, and he replied that yes, if he went through the proper route, which meant starting at the C Rank Dungeon and going up the ranks.

Haku had been going through the dungeons at the same time as they went through the Gate of Fang, and had already completed the A Rank Dungeon.

The group with Haku lined up, which shocked the other adventurers.

Eventually it was their turn and they showed their adventurer cards.

'Gau.'

Haku also had one.

"...Alright, you can head to the second floor."

"Thank you very much."

The first floor could only fit humans, so Haku was allowed to skip to the second one.

They entered through a large window on a wall and headed to talk to the cube device.

That took them to the last floor, where Dogora and Shea kept using their Skills on a summon.

"Commandant!"

The generals of Allen's army came to meet them.

"Hey, I brought you new weapons. Give adamantite ones to those still using hihiirokane equipment."

He left all the adamantite weapons on the floor. Everyone in the army was using hihiirokane weapons or better, but now they could switch to adamantite.

The strongest weapons were handed out depending on the members' ranks, generals being on top.

The weapons formed a pile on the floor.

"And Lud, go take these to the Hero's Army."

"Yessir!!"

The hihiirokane weapons would be taken to the Hero's Army. They were Giamut's best, but most of them were stuck with mythril weapons.

"Alright, next we fight the Iron Golems. Haku, there's a way to fight them."

'Got it!!'

Kurena was talking to Haku in a motherly tone. They would raise their Levels together.

That way they prepared themselves to fight the Gatekeeper.