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

Allen's team dungeon rush campaign continued. The biggest advantage they'd this time was Leon's ability---Casualty Attunement (Mid); this had increased their odds of finding stairs, or other necessity items required for their campaign.

Inside the dungeon, there were occasionally shops where they could find items like «Explosion Grass», «Super Charcoal», pickaxes, and shovels, to help them shorten their progress time. While it was depending on their distance from Allen, the team could directly teleport to the shop.

[Floor 18: Remaining Time 19:55]

"Alright, we're on the 18th floor. Only five left. Sophia, use your Spirit God's Blessing!"

"Alright-y! O' Great Spirit God, please confer us your power!"

Following Sophia's aria, a shower of radiant rain poured down, and Allen's team's stats soared instantly. In tandem, their cooldown had also reset.

*Slurp-Slurp*

Allen's command continues to fly away. Occasionally, he would take a moment to drink nutrients found in the dungeon, using the sugar in them to sooth his brain's fatigue.

(Ah, crap. I should have memorized at least 12,256 possible paths. We really need an adamantite shovel for the 50th floor, or else my brain's gonna burst out. At least explosive grass is already acquired, and super charcoal is easy to find in shops, so we can ignore the treasure chest.)

Explosive grass had already been found from the treasure chest of 10th. Incidentally, there were no more guardians.

As of now, the other Bird A were trying to search the map. Meanwhile, Allen made sure to memorise the path they'd taken. The challenge was to avoid dead ends, and chart through the paths that were untouched. This required him to not only the intersections but also the shape of the passageways had to be remembered.

And if the entrance was spotted in a distance away from them, Allen would have to ponder really hard if he should use the awakening skill of Bird A to teleport. Should he prioritize using the skill depending on the distance to the stairs and shop? They might have rare items, but with the stairs so far away, should they just give up?

The dungeon's nearly infinite choices and probabilities made navigating this vast labyrinth an overwhelming challenge. Even with his exceptional intellect, Allen was forced to be quick in both mind and feet, and his mind was nearing its breaking point, causing him to perspire in cold sweat.

"...You don't look so good."

Cecil called out, noticing his condition.

When was the last time he forced his body to this extent? Allen thought, and fumbled for his next words.

"H-hey, I am fine. I am just wrecking my brain over the items we need, since we will be tackling the grand maze soon. We'll also need to reset the cooldowns at the Healing Spring. However Andrey subjugation takes precedence....Uh, this is... indeed quite going to be tough."

He narrated the rest of the strategy, mostly speaking of the cautiousness they ought to take, or else they would be wasting their effort. But, amidst his explanation, the world began to spin in front of him.

"Sheesh, I already heard about it---whoa, you're bleeding, Allen! I mean, your nose is bleeding!"

"H-huh?"

It appeared just answering Cecil's question pushed his fatigued brain past its limit, and blood began to drip from his nose without him noticing.

"Allen, you should lie down for a bit."

"Sorry..."

"Wait, are you sure, Cecil-san?! I can change places with you, I mean if you want to practice your magic meanwhile..."

After all, levelling up skill was also important, so Sophia raised her voice seeing Cecil halting on her practice to help Allen.

"I'm fine, Sophia. Just let him rest for a while, and he'll feel better soon. His expression's already starting to improve."

Cecil reassured her, gently stroking Allen's hair.

His condition started to stabilize after basking in the blessing of the Spirit God's light rain.

He was laid on Magla's back as he stared at the dungeon's ceiling, while Cecil gave him a lap pillow. Sophia was speechless, while Luck next to him was astounded.

"Is he going to be okay? We're going to pick up our pace now that we have Sofiarone-sama's support. But he's still the navigator, and without him, we're as good as deadweight."

With his gaze fixed ahead, Formar, ever vigilant, spoke without turning toward Allen, making a valid point.

Sophia was another piece to complete their current challenge. Her blessings were truly a god's grace for them; with her buffs, the summoned beasts, birds mostly, would be able to chart the area at a quicker pace, increasing their range of action.

In a short while, other summoned birds also started to appear from the stairs, and while they got delayed in arrival, they flew off with tremendous speed due to blessing.

In the Earth Labyrinth, challengers were forcibly ejected when time runs out, though dying would mean permanently becoming a part of the dungeon. So, if any obstruction appeared in Allen's way, the danger would befall all the party members. And as Sophia's bodyguard, Formar was obviously concerned about her first.

"The burden doesn't seem to be a problem, even with the speed increase. My intelligence has gone up by over 100,000."

He was packed with equipment and tools that could buff his intelligence. Well, that didn't include the ones whom he had already used to mark location in the Divine Realm and Human Realm for teleportation. Nevertheless, their blessing still continued to help him up just by being present in the Grimoire.

Overall, Allen had buffs from 40 A-rank summoned birds, and his ring had been specially attuned for intelligence.

*Squeeze-Squeeze*

"Hey, that's not the manner for someone's favour. Your drool is all over."

Cecil chided Allen as he squeezed nutrients to help soothe his brain, which, due to the position caused his saliva to drip out, and wiped it with a handkerchief.

Allen's status for Earth Labyrinth (including equipment and armor):

Strength - 204,770

Magic - 254,514

Spiritual Power - 254,514

Attack - 193,539 + 50,000

Endurance - 190,939 + 12,000

Agility - 246,895

Intelligence - 359,827 + 30,000

Luck - 207,895

(Hmm, intelligence approaching 390,000... The Spirit God's Blessing is certainly working wonders. Let's quickly gather the necessary items, reduce the number of trips to the store, and focus on the stairs.)

[Floor 50 - Remaining Time: 12:03]

As the time neared the halfway mark, Allen and his group successfully forged the adamantite shovel and arrived at the Grand Mage, a floor that was entirely made of adamantite pathways.

"Alright..."

"Hold on a minute---why are you holding the shovel, Allen!? Hand it over, I will do the digging."

Cecil knew very well how abysmal the luck of Allen was, and immediately took Shovel from him.

The team had finally acquired Shovel, Pickaxes, hammers, and keys.

In the Earth Dungeons, tools and items essential for the journey---such as shovels, pickaxes, hammers, and keys---could be found. Some of these items were ready-made and could be bought from shops, while others, like the shovel, required a bit of work to craft by hammering together ingredients like Explosive Grass, Bichou Charcoal, and ores.

The sacred artifact Earth Hammer, wielded by Habarak, was capable of forging a shovel, and the best part was that it could be brought in without any restrictions. Since it counted as an "equipment slot," it therefore didn't fall under the limit that prevented other items from being brought into the dungeon.

The presence of a hammer made many things easier for them.

Allen however resisted with wide eyes, and chided Cecil.

"You won't get it, Cecil! I have the blessing of Causality Attunement (Medium) to me. Everything, every probability, works in my favor! Never again get in the way of a party leader's decisions!!"

"Ugh, I get it, okay? Sorry, alright..."

Faced with Allen's sheer intensity, Cecil relented and stepped back, allowing him to keep the shovel.

*Clink*

As Allen struck the ground with the Adamantite Shovel, a gaping hole appeared in the dark stone floor of the dungeon, opening a path that led down to the next level. The shovel had a durability of two to five uses, meaning it could withstand at least two more strikes---there was no risk of it breaking just yet.

"Alright, let's go down. We're halfway through the time limit. Next, we're looking for the Healing Spring!"

With Allen's commanding words, the team heightened their focus and pressed on with the dungeon's conquest.

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[60th Floor - Time Left: 8:03]

The Adamantite Shovel in Arlen's hand gleamed briefly before disintegrating into bubbles, disappearing altogether. His comrades, having expected it, sighed in unison. And of course, what followed immediately was Cecil's wraith.

*Paa!*

"Hey, Allen. Mind explaining why the shovel broke in just two tries?!"

"Allen, why on earth did the shovel break after just two uses?!"

"G-ugh... this is... painful..."

(Something's off... The expected average should have been three uses. Why is it breaking so soon?)

Allen barely managed to squeeze out his voice as two hands grabbed him by his collars and shook him, squeezing his throat. And the cold gaze of his comrades was a sign the ship of rescue was long down in the ditch.

The cause was, needless to say, the shovel that had broken down, and disappeared into light bubbles. Apparently, after using the shovel again for another shortcut hole just a moment ago, the shovel's durability hit the bottom.

Just as before, Arlen had used the Adamantite Shovel to quickly create a hole in the dungeon floor, only for it to shatter into glowing bubbles, breaking apart.

"So, what now? We may have to chart the 10 floors normally. Or are we going to seek a new shovel?"

Formar asked in a flat tone as he continued to give him a gaze of pity. Albeit his gaze still verily scanning the surrounding, making sure no clay doll managed to reach their victini.

Cecil, regaining her composure thanks to Formar's demeanor, finally released Allen from her grip.

"*Huff, huff...* "No, no. We already reset the cooldown of our skills by finding the Healing Spring. If a situation arises, I will have Sophia use her divine skill. We will simply focus on finding stairs, and ignore everything else."

It wasn't impossible to find material for shovels. Moreover, while rare, it was also possible to acquire an adamantite shovel from the treasure chest or store. The probability, however, was too low. And the materials were very hard to come up with. They shouldn't be able to have one until the 70th floor at best.

It was quite evident since in their journey from the 1st to the 50th floor, where they had only managed to craft a single Adamantite Shovel.

So, instead of leaving everything to their luck, Allen decided to forgo those options and push through the dungeon with sheer force and speed.

"Heh, so a steady pathway that doesn't rely on *luck*, huh?"

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[80th Floor - Time Remaining: 1:58]

Finally, Allen and his party finally made it to the 80th floor.

(We really made it in a nick of time, huh?)

At the end, they had brute force their way through the maze, though it also consumed a good chunk of their time.

(Hmm, this one's not a spirit beast. We haven't defeated it yet, and it's just casual here.)

They sighted their target at the centre of the vast hall, bizarrely resembling the main character of certain adolescent mutated ninja turtles. It stood on two hind legs, and bore a turtle shell on the back. Its stomach was rippling with muscles.

The shell had countless gleaming orichalcum ores growing on it, giving off a golden glow. Its overwhelming durability made it seem impossible to approach. They would have to break some bones to go through that insane durability it appeared. Even without that, the sharp aura around it made it clear it wasn't to be trifled with.

«Hn, I am Andrey, familiar of the Earth God. The incarnation of soil---it's You again? You haven't given up exploration, i SEE."

The creature rose, its body as massive as a small mountain. It was larger than any monster Allen and team had fought up to this point.

Though, contrary to its giant stature, Andrey appeared polite enough to introduce itself.