Hell Mode: Volume 7

1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-1-7183-8210-7
Verlag: J-Novel Club
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 250 Seiten

Reihe: Hell Mode

Just when Allen and the No-life Gamers think they've finally bought themselves some time to savor clearing of the Rank S dungeon, they receive a call for help from the Holy Land of Elmahl. The execution of the Pontiff of Daemonism has failed, and the capital has gone up in flames. Worse yet, just as the Gamers prepare to depart, reports begin pouring in about multiple invasions by the Demon Lord Army...

As Allen embarks on his latest adventure, he also finds himself confronted with the challenge of what it means to be a leader and learning to respect his friends' wishes-even if it means allowing one of them to knowingly put their life on the line!

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hamuo

Weitere Mitwirkende

Mo

Muell, Jason

Leseproben

Chapter 2: Allen’s Decision and Concern for His Friends

While flying the Gamers south across Rohzenheim following their departure from Fortenia, Meruru made some adjustments to Tam-Tam’s systems and controls. The golem’s Eagle Mode, which boasted a wingspan of nearly a hundred meters, could easily fit all eight members in its large cockpit.

It was a rare occurrence for Allen and his friends to ride inside a golem. With the exception of one person, everyone in the party was inspecting the cockpit and watching Meruru work with great interest.

Meruru’s magic disc was currently set up as follows:

The reason she was using the three Agility-enhancing slates was so that they could reach the crisis-stricken Elmahl as quickly as possible. Since they would be traveling to a different continent, they had decided to use a Map slate that showed the layout of the entire world. They also had individual slates that provided more in-depth views of each of the five continents, which they could swap in if they so chose. Incidentally, they had even gotten their hands on one for the Forgotten Continent, where the Demon Lord was located.

The map the slate pulled up on Meruru’s control panel consisted of a series of illuminated blue lines and a red marker that showed Tam-Tam’s current location. This marker was pointing off to the south, at a continent separated from Rohzenheim by an ocean. And though the map did not mark the borders of the multitude of small nations on the continent, the Gamers knew that just north of its center was their target: the Holy Land of Elmahl.

Just as with the national borders, the map did not display any man-made objects such as towns, forts, or bridges. However, were the need to arise, all Meruru had to do was concentrate on her magic disc in order to mark any buildings.

“Are you sure we don’t need any weapons?” Meruru asked, turning toward Allen. Even in flight mode, the golem was capable of using long-range attack slates to equip weapons, which would attach to its wings. Equipping them would allow it to attack much like the mithril golems they had fought back in the Rank S dungeon.

The problem was that if they wanted to use the long-range attack slates, they would have to remove the Agility-buffing slates. Since the golem’s speed was based on its Agility, they had little choice in the matter.

“I’m sure. It’s best to prioritize speed at the moment.”

“Okay, gotcha.”

Meruru nodded, tapped around on the control panel, and traced the map with her finger. She looked full of confidence; Allen was sure she would not make a mistake even if she were to get momentarily stuck on what to do next. He was thankful that she had put a lot of practice into piloting Tam-Tam.

While they were in the Rank S dungeon, Allen and the Gamers had repeated their schedule of three days in the dungeon followed by two days of rest. Ever since they had started farming iron golems earlier this year, Meruru had been proactively checking the effects of any new slates they found in treasure chests.

“Let’s move up a little higher; I’d hate to crash into any flying monsters. Oh, nice! Looks like Tam-Tam will head to Elmahl all on its own now. We should arrive tomorrow morning!” Having seemingly set Tam-Tam on autopilot, Meruru stood up from the pilot’s seat.

Krena’s eyes lit up as she looked at Meruru. “Wow, it can even fly on its own?! You’re amazing, Meruru!” Meruru chuckled shyly at this, and the rest of the Gamers—aside from Dogora—crowded around her.

“Guess I’m gonna rest until tomorrow morning, then.” With that, Dogora made to leave the cockpit.

At over a hundred meters long, Tam-Tam’s Eagle Mode was big enough for each of the party members to have their own rooms.

“Will he be okay, Allen?” Cecil asked, watching as Dogora left the cockpit.

As far as Allen was concerned, though he and his friends went on adventures together, what was most important to each of them varied. In Dogora’s case, it was to become a hero—his dream since childhood. However, Allen figured that, after mentioning that dream earlier at the temple in Fortenia, Dogora had realized that he was worrying his friends and begun to wonder if his decision was the correct one.

“Hmm, I think it’d do him some good to calm down and think things over.”

Cecil nodded, keeping her eyes on Dogora as he walked away. “I guess you’re right.”

On a whim, Allen flipped open his grimoire and noticed that Meruru’s MP was draining fast. A golem moved by consuming the MP of the owner of the magic disc used to call it forth, and that went for flying as well. Meruru was continuously using up her MP despite no longer being in the pilot’s seat.

Allen recalled the MP recovery ring Sophie had returned to him. “It looks like you’re gonna run out of MP before we arrive at this rate. You should put this on,” he said, handing the ring to Meruru.

“Thanks.”

“Until we get there, let’s all take turns resting.”

“Good idea,” Cecil replied. “Even outside of dungeons, it’s important to keep watch at night.” Meruru would stay in the cockpit the whole time in case anything went wrong while the rest of the members rested. At the same time, Allen would use Bird A’s Return to Nest Ability in order to go back to Fortenia and pick up some necessary items.

Bird A’s Return to Nest and Homing Instinct allowed Allen to place nests on moving objects. He had first tested this by placing one on the magic ship that had taken the Gamers to their audience in front of the emperor of Baukis.

After some time, a light began to shine in from the port side of the southbound Tam-Tam’s cockpit. As it did, a dark object in the distance came into view.

“A continent!” Krena shouted, her face illuminated by the sunrise. Allen and the others in the cockpit crowded forward to take a look for themselves.

Once Tam-Tam’s shadow was finally over land, Cecil called out to Allen. “Where should we go first?”

Allen pulled out a map of Elmahl he had grabbed from Fortenia and opened it up. The map displayed on Tam-Tam’s panel had only a simplified version of the world and the continents alike; the details on it were hard to make out and it contained no information on towns. By looking at the map showing important cities and routes he had obtained, Allen was able to figure out where they were going.

“Here.” He pointed toward the Elmahlan city of Neel. Immediately, Krena and Keel both responded.

“Huh? But why?”

“What? Why there?”

“Teomenia is probably beyond saving. It’s already been three days, after all.”

Neel had sent out the call for help to all the nations of the world just one day earlier. In the message, they had mentioned that the capital of Teomenia had been consumed by a mysterious flame two days before that. Moreover, considering that the priests and commoners who had escaped the blazing capital had turned into monsters, Allen figured that Teomenia had fallen to those monsters by now.

“I see...” Krena’s shoulders slumped as she spoke.

Keel, however, appeared unconvinced by Allen’s decision. “Fine, then I’ll go it alone. I’ll head to Teomenia by myself.” Keel shot Allen a glare just as Dogora had in Fortenia. Referred to as the “Saint King of Fortune” among his friends, he was always concerned with the welfare of others and doing what was right.

When the Carnel family’s title and fiefdom were stripped from them, Keel, his younger sister, Nina, and the family’s servants were temporarily taken in by the Church of Elmea. Keel, who had already known that he had the Cleric Talent, received the title of “priest in training” and helped with the Church’s activities, using his magic to heal the wounds of the injured while supporting his family with what little money he earned in alms. He refused to turn his back on the debt he owed the Church and, if given the opportunity to help those in positions similar to his, would often spend his free time in any churches he happened to find.

Due to that experience and his strong sense of justice, he would...