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

Kurena's Skills [Supreme Sword] and [Phoenix Blast] had weakened Megadeth enough for [Deep Impact] to deal the final blow.

Megadeth's body fell on the ground with a loud thud, laying on his back.

They had defeated him, and shortly after Allen and the rest entered through the gate that appeared.

"Good job. I see you won."

"Eheheh, Haku also did his best!!"

'Gyau!!'

Haku imitated the way Kurena puffed her chest with pride.

"So you just waited patiently without letting Megadeth notice, that's a really good plan."

Allen and Sophie were impressed with Kurena's strategy.

"I know, eheheh."

"And I guess having the Arbiter God here also helped distract Megadeth…"

They continued talking about the fight. They had been able to see through the gate the entire time, and sometimes they got far away, but they could always hear them talk.

The Arbiter God had taken some time to enter the arena, all of which was spent by striking the barrier with her horns for a while. She never gave up on helping Kurena, and entered just in time.

(Megadeth got too impatient too, I guess he lacks experience.)

Allen knew that experience was important for fights. Megadeth was the last Gatekeeper, so he only got to fight once every few centuries, or even millenia.

He only got to fight Dragoons and dragons too, which he could defeat by periodically entering Mode Scale and healing. Seeing the Arbiter God had filled him with ambition and blinded him.

Allen had easily seen through Kurena's plan, and explained how there were plenty of ways to counter that. But Since Haku attacked just when Kurena teleported, Megadeth got too confused and was defeated.

Eventually Cecile stepped in.

"Allen, you're talking too much. Sometimes a bit of praise is enough."

(Hm?)

Allen looked around and saw everyone else nodding.

"You're right. Good job Kurena! Now we can enter the divine realm!!"

"Thank you Allen! Haku also worked hard!!"

'Gyau!!'

Kurena was grinning. Haku had also recovered from almost giving up during the fight.

'I've completed my part of the pact, don't forget to fulfill yours.'

Clack clack

The Arbiter God spoke next, reminding Allen about their pact before walking away.

Allen felt like she was walking faster than usual, vanishing outside the gate.

She had probably returned to Heavy User Island.

(I guess she's leaving already.)

She was not interested in the divine realm. Everyone watched as she left when they felt something behind them.

'Oh well, I guess I lost. I guess Lord Desperado is always right after all.'

Megadeth returned to his small form as he lamented the result of the fight.

"Desperado?"

'Oh, it's nothing. Anyway, I guess I can't complete that pact.'

Megadeth had kept mentioning Desperado during the fight, but never went into detail.

But it seemed like the God of Space and Time had told him something.

(It seems like Desperado can see the future, but Megadeth wasn't convinced of that. Maybe his predictions aren't always correct? Or maybe he didn't tell everything to Megadeth.)

Desperado held the entrance to the divine realm shut, and as he controlled time, it was possible he could see into the future as well.

"Anyway, can we have our reward now? A Talent Change and the Proof of Scale."

Allen was curious about Desperado, but he had other priorities.

'Of course. Pacts with Gods are absolute. Alright Kurena and Haku, woohoo.'

Poof

"Ohh!!"

'Gyau!!'

They started glowing and Kurena became a 4 Star Dragoon King, and Haku an S Rank Dimension Dragon.

(They keep growing, though Kurena is still 1 Star behind.)

Haku had joined the party and now they could go to the divine realm.

In the process they also obtained plenty of orichalcum weapons, new accessories, and even a staff for Cecile and a new Extra Skill.

It was March now, and Allen was satisfied with what they had accomplished so far.

'This is the Proof of Scale.'

Megadeth gave them a glowing dragon scale. Luck looked at that while squishing Mouton.

"We did it! Now we can go to the divine realm!"

'Mhm, we can! I want to see that place too!!'

Mouton was also excited, having waited for that moment for many long years.

Everyone was excited about their new adventure, except Fabre who still looked worried.

'...Hmm.'

Megadeth looked at them, waiting for their excitement to wind down.

(What's going on?)

"Is something wrong?"

'I'm sorry to interrupt your celebration, but your fight to reach the divine realm isn't over yet.'

"What! That's not what we were told…"

Sophie was shocked hearing that. The Dragon King had told them the Gates of Trials were all they needed. And they had completed that now.

"W-wait…"

"This isn't what we were told."

(Is he throwing a fit because he lost?)

Allen tried to understand what was going on before Cecile snapped.

'It's exactly what I said. Though what you were told before coming here wasn't exactly wrong either. It's just that a pact was formed with the challengers that came just before you.'

Megadeth wanted them to just accept it.

"Could you tell us in more detail then? I don't really get why things are different now."

(Hmm what is going on? Is he trying to take advantage of us?)

Only Allen was still calm, he knew dealing with Gods involved a lot of negotiation.

'The conditions originally set in place by the God of Space and Time are exactly what you were told at first. But someone formed a pact before you came.'

Megadeth turned to look at Fabre.

"So that's a special condition only for us? Did the Spirit King form that pact?"

'Yes. The Spirit King Fabre and Dragon King Matildora begged for their lives as they fought me.'

He recounted what happened. 3000 years ago both of them reached Megadeth's gate.

Unable to win, they begged for their lives, Fabre was too worried about the dark elves.

"And their request was answered then?"

'Yes, the God of Space and Time is generous. He spared their lives under certain conditions.'

"Could I know what those conditions were?"

'Well, the Spirit King would be spared if she brought a new Challenger to the gates.'

The Dragon King would have to fight whoever passed through the Gates of Trials.

"Then why did he make her keep quiet about everything?"

Megadeth's explanations seemed almost contradictory to Allen.

Fabre would have needed to constantly tell Allen's group to go to the gates, but she could not talk about them. Those who were there before could not talk about the gates.

That meant Fabre had no way to fulfill her side of the pact.

'That was decided by the God of Space and Time. It seems it worked out in the end though.'

(Hm? I see, otherwise we could've ended up here before going to Patlanta.)

Desperado seemed to be able to see the future to a certain extent.

Luck became part of Allen's party around the time he obtained Heavy User Island.

That was before Kurena entered Extra Mode, and only after that they heard about the gates.

For 3000 years the Spirit King had been wanting to come back, but could not talk about it.

In a way, that led to her being with Allen when the time was right.

"So what should we do Allen? Do you want to challenge the Dragon King?"

Allen wanted to know what Allen thought.

"Hmm…by the way, is there an option to not fight him?"

Allen did not want to take part in a fight that did not benefit him.

'Of course not. This is a pact. She might've kept quiet about it, but it's essentially a condition to open the Gate of Judgement now.'

(Ohh, he called it a condition.)

A wicked idea popped into Allen's mind.

"So the Dragon King is the last Gatekeeper? The last Trial for Kurena and Haku."

If they could not avoid the fight, then the Dragon King was essentially a Gatekeeper.

'... I'm not sure what to say from how you described it, but pretty much yes.'

Megadeth felt like Allen's wording was strange, but said it was correct.

"Then we'll gladly stand up to the challenge. The God of Space and Time is truly generous."

'Generous? Err, what are you talking about?'

"I mean, we need more power to fight the Demon King, and he generously prepared a new Gatekeeper for us… It's exactly what we needed."

'...Huh?'

Megadeth was still confused.

"I mean, Kurena and Haku have become so powerful already, and now we're getting an extra reward…"

Allen joined his hands in prayer, acting very thankful.

Megadeth had told them before that they would get a reward with each Gatekeeper they defeated.

'Huh?! No, wait, that's not what I meant!!'

"What's wrong?"

Allen acted confused, and his friends knew what was about to happen.

Megadeth did not have a reward ready, but Allen made it awkward to explain that.

'Alright, just wait a moment. I need to consult with the God of Space and Time.'

Megadeth's body froze in mid-air.

"Ohh, are we getting stronger then?"

"Yeah. We have the chance so let's take it."

'Gyau!'

Allen had been annoyed at first hearing there was one more condition, but it was not the worst now. At least Kurena would return to having a 5 Star Talent.

'Hmm…so it'll take a bit longer to get there.'

"Kurena should be able to do it. She got Megadeth after all."

'You have a point, boy.'

Mouton looked dejected hearing it would take longer to get to the divine realm, a place he dreamt of for so long.

(The Dragon King lost to Megadeth, but we defeated Megadeth. It might be hard, but we have a high chance of succeeding.)

Allen accepted the new condition only because he could take advantage of Megadeth and make Kurena stronger.

'Welp, he said that's alright. Good grief…'

"I don't have the words to express my gratitude. Actually, I'd like to ask something more…"

Allen asked if there were any more conditions after that, and what the requirements to fight the Dragon King were.

Kurena and Haku had defeated Megadeth, but that was not enough to reach the divine realm yet.