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

Digragni disappeared, and then appeared in the middle of Allen's party to attack.

(Hm? I guess the attack's damage rolls off quickly above ground.)

Even though everyone had been blown back, Allen noticed his allies' Strength was still high.

Cecile and the others riding on Bird B summons had taken less damage than Kurena.

Using what he learned and his friends' state, Allen gave new orders.

"Sophie, build a barrier! Merus you go back with the rear guard!!"

"Understood. Earth spirit Pigmy, protect us with your strong walls."

Sophie quickly made an earth spirit appear.

'I'm on it.'

A young boy wearing straw clothes and shoes appeared.

His face was largely covered by a har, but he looked quite rowdy.

Sophie channeled her mana and the spirit built a wall where Allen and Formar stood.

'Do you really think that will do anything? Round Burst!!'

Whooooom

"Kyah?!"

Digragni's hammer arm easily plowed through the wall and he charged at Sophie.

'Hmph!!'

'Whoa?!'

But Merus was already there, easily pushing back the enormous body of Digragni.

(His attack range is incredibly broad. And it's hard for us to attack.)

Digragni was very mobile, and trying to hit him with magic could lead to friendly fire.

"Hey, my Skills don't work at all!! What the hell?!!"

Just like with Gordino, Luck's debuffs did not work on Digragni which annoyed him.

But he also seemed terrified watching Merus and Digragni fight so close to him.

Luck's debuffs were not working, but he was not the only member with such issues.

"It's not looking good for you either, Makris?"

'Nothing seems to stick. This might be impossible for me.'

(Shooting Star doesn't work either. I guess we can't use debuffs on Digragni then.)

Allen had also told Merus to try using his [Attribute Enhancement] but it did not work.

Not even Merus or Makris' high stats were enough to change Digragni's element.

Intelligence dictated whether debuff Skills would be effective in this world.

If not even Makris or Merus could use them, then no debuffs in Allen's party would work.

They had just defeated Gordino earlier, so Allen's summons were still there.

The Bird B summons were already helping the rear guard, letting them attack and defend better.

Merle on Tam-Tam rushed behind Gordino, holding him together with Merus.

"Yahhhh!!!"

'You're slow, but I'll become even faster. Mode Change!!'

"Huhh?! He's changing forms!!"

Whirrrrr

Clank clank

Whooooooooooom!!!

Digragni transformed and moved right away, so Tam-Tam's fist struck emptiness.

Two jet engines appeared on his back and his body became slimmer before taking off.

Gordino's boss room was wide, and also extremely tall.

From the air, Digragni could freely attack both the frontline and rear guard.

That meant their formation was no longer useful. Dogora then screamed with a loud voice.

"Formation Break!!!"

As he shouted loudly, a magic circle appeared around his body.

It quickly spread around, reaching of his allies.

[Name] Dogora

[Age] 16

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

[Talent] Barbarian King

[Level] 99

[Strength] 8729 + 10000 (Blessing) + 9600 (True Fighting Spirit)

[Mana] 4007 + 10000 + 4800

[Attack] 8988 + 10000 + 9600

[Endurance] 8235 + 10000 + 9600

[Agility] 6213 + 10000 + 9600

[Intelligence] 3845 + 10000 + 4800

[Luck] 6028 + 10000 + 9600

[Skills] Barbarian King (7), True Full-Body (7), True Bombing Defeat (7), True Peerless Slash (7), True Wicked Blow (7), Body and Soul (5), True Fighting Spirit (2), Formation Break (3), Explosive Attack (Limited) (3), Axemanship (7), Twin Axemanship (3), Shield Technique (4)

-Skill Level:

[Barbarian King] 7

[True Full-Body] 7

[True Bombing Defeat] 7

[True Peerless Slash] 7

[True Wicked Blow] 7

[Body and Soul] 5

[Formation Break] 3

[Explosive Attack (Limited)] 3

-Skill Experience:

[True Full-Body] ~50'000'000 / 100'000'000

[True Bombing Defeat] ~50'000'000 / 100'000'000

[True Peerless Slash] ~50'000'000 / 100'000'000

[True Wicked Blow] ~50'000'000 / 100'000'000

[Body and Soul] ~10'000'000 / 100'000'000

[Formation Break] 300'000 / 1000'000

[Explosive Attack (Limited)] 200'000 / 1000'000

Dogora could not stop thinking how he was unable to do anything to Basque.

So Allen found him something to practice with. Something only possible with [Growth].

The Stone D summon could use its Awakened Skill [Protecting Life] to increase its Endurance by 5x.

With [Growth] and [Strengthening] the summon's Endurance reached 75000.

Adding Kiel's support magic which multiplied that by 1.2, it reached 90000.

That Endurance boosted Stone D was always kept near Merus' healing radius.

Merus was always creating Heaven's Blessings and using them on it.

Dogora had been practicing his Skills on that Stone D summon.

Dogora wore armor that raised his Mana, but used lower ranking weapons.

This was a way to obtain Skill Experience by attacking a monster with high Endurance, something Allen used to do in his past life.

Allen and Merus used close to 10000 Skills each day, and now Dogora was following close behind, his Talent reaching Level 7 in a short time and giving him a new Skill.

Soon after that Kurena and Shea also started using the same method to Level Up.

[Formation Break] was closer to a buff than an Attack Skill.

[Analysis of Formation Break Level 3]:

-30% damage reduction from attacks on all allies (including physical, magic, and breath attacks)

-30% damage increase from attacks on Dogora (including physical, magic, and breath attacks)

-Dogora's Critical Chance +30%

-30% damage increase for Dogora's attacks

-Each Skill Level increases the effects by 10%

The Skill protected Dogora's allies while making him take more, but he also dealt more damage.

"Dogora, our enemy is powerful. Don't take any hits if you're using that Skill!!"

That Skill had benefits and downsides, so Allen let Dogora choose whether he wanted to use it.

"Yeah, don't worry. I'll be okay!!"

Even though he would take 30% more damage, Dogora still went to fight Digragni directly.

'It seems you still don't understand my power! Gather Pentapods!! Make them regret this!!'

Digragni's crystal began to glow, something taking form inside the light.

'''Keek keek!!'''

(So they're smaller Digragnis. I'm sure they're not as harmless as they look.)

The enemy could fly around freely, rendering Allen's formation useless.

But they all had plenty of experience fighting, so they did not give up yet.

Digragni had created five 30 meter long Pentapods, shaped like him.

"Ghuh?!"

One of them attacked Kurena, sending her flying back.

"They're as powerful as Demon Generals! Be careful!!"

Kurena could fight A Rank and S Rank monsters without issue, so if the attack had affected her so much, the Pentapods had to be of a higher level.

'Freeze Cannon!'

Makris positioned himself carefully to not hit his allies and used [Freeze Cannon].

Two of the five Pentapods were hit and shattered. They could not block Makris' attack.

The remaining three Pentapods' eyes started glowing red.

'''Repair Energy.'''

Two of the Pentapods regenerated to return into being five.

Then the other Pentapod began to regenerate Digragni's wounds, healing him back to normal.

"Allen, the fight will never end at this rate!!"

Cecile cried from the back lines.

"I know. But considering how he's moving…"

"Huh? Do you think…"

Allen noticed something from Digragni's movements. He felt like something bad was coming.

"This will be a long fight, prepare yourselves."

"Why? Let's just hit him with everything we have."

"No, that'll only work if he was alone. We need to fight this out."

Allen suggested they extend the fight.

But that meant it was hard to tell when the fight would end.

During their time in the Academy, Allen had found a summon switch in a dungeon, which brought a monster when hit.

That led to an incident where Allen's interests clashed with those of his party.

He kept hitting the switch over and over without breaks, not even to eat, until Cecile accidentally hit Allen's head with fire magic.

Allen still did not understand why Cecile had done that.

The fight went on. Digragni changed shape many times, while the Pentapods healed him.

(This seems like an endless cycle. Does he even use Mana? Still, he's making a lot of movements, they have to mean something. Or is he just so happy to fight?)

Six hours had passed, but Digragni still had plenty of Mana.

He kept transforming and launching all sorts of attacks on Allen's party.

"Hmm, maybe it'll be time soon."

Allen tried to read Digragni's intention from his movements.

He did not seem to be used to long fights, his movements becoming rougher.

"Hey, Allen! Do something already!!"

Cecile had shouted so many times, but Allen finally turned to look at her for the first time.

"Yeah, I know."

'You're too full of yourself to think you can look away while fighting me!!'

Digragni had also been examining their actions.

"Ghah!!"

Allen was punched by Digragni and sent flying.

Allen's friends all gathered around him, the summons also retreated, which Digragni noticed.

'Foolish humans gathering in one place. I'll show you something special. Come Pentapods!!'

(Oh? This is looking good.)

'''Keek keek!!'''

Digragni considered it an advantage that his opponents had gathered there.

The Pentapods transformed in an instant and formed a large cannon.

Digragni took hold of the cannon, light starting to gather at its muzzle.

'Grand Laser!!'

Digragni shot a concentrated beam of light.

"I see, so that's his special ability. Makris, get ready! Everyone, match your attacks!!"

Allen stood up like nothing happened.

'Leave it to meee. Freeze Cannon!!'

Makris' [Freeze Cannon] absorbed the beam of light as it traveled, shattering the cannon and Digragni's arm.

Allen's allies understood what he wanted to do, all of them using powerful Skills.

"Laser Beam!!"

Tam-Tam's eyes used the Skill [Light Gaze].

Allen had told Merle to call it [Laser Beam] instead.

'Judgement Thunder.'

Merus also finally used his Awakened Skill [Judgement Thunder].

"Small Meteor!!"

The rest also used their Extra Skills. Except for Sophie, who waited just in case.

Everyone attacked one after another, with Cecile's [Small Meteor] following Merus' attack.

Makris had destroyed all the Pentapods, so Digragni also did not have a way to heal.

'Nghaaaaaaaaahhh, that's not enough!!'

Digragni used his intact right arm to stop Cecile's flaming rock.

Cracks ran down his hand, but he succeeded in deviating the meteor's path to the side.

But there were even more attacks coming from Allen's allies.

Dogora dashed up to Digragni in an instant.

"Body and Soul!!"

The Divine Artifact Kagutsuchi was plunged deep into Digragni's cheek.

Whooooom

At Skill Level 7, and with Formation Break active, Dogora's attack was incredibly powerful.

"We did it!!"

Seeing Digragni's head shatter in front of them, everyone felt sure they had won.

Tired of the long fight, Cecile shouted with joy.