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

"It seems the God of Magic Isiris really wants your tail…"

'Isiris? So her research has gotten this far, huh. The reversal of law… I doubt Elmea would allow that though…'

"The reversal of law?"

'Nevermind that. Why do you want that?'

"To complete the trial of one of my friends."

'What was that? You're still blabbering on about friends and that nonsense? I'm taking away the Garm Point from earlier.'

Garm took away the Garm Point he had given her earlier, though she still did not know what it was. But she was more shocked by the strong reaction the word friend had.

It was like something deep within Garm's heart had awoken.

'Shea! Remember how I lived!! And become the Beast Emperor no matter what!!'

The voice of her mother within raging flames that day rang inside her head.

'Why are you getting lost in thought in front of me?'

Garm pressed her for an answer.

"I'm sorry… But I have to become the Beast Emperor."

She once again voiced her desire.

'So you were recalling your initial motivation? But I won't go easy on you. You need to learn that beastmen are weak unless they're ready to devour each other.'

"Yes…I'm fully aware of that."

Garm's words resonated with half of Shea's lifetime.

'But being fair is necessary too. I believe there's a fragment of the God of Law Axilion's Divine Artifact in this temple.'

"The God of Law…"

Shea thought back to the story Allen had told them, about the war amongst Gods from 1000000 years ago.

The Fragment of the Sun was a piece of the God of Light's Divine Artifact.

And the Fragment of the Moon seemed to be a piece of the God of Law's Divine Artifact.

'I'll give you that Fragment of the Moon you want, and my tail. Will that satisfy you?'

"Yes it will… Can we start the challenge now then?"

'Don't get ahead of yourself, we just said it has to be fair, didn't we? There's something missing for this to be fair.'

Garm grinned saying that.

"Something missing…"

Shea turned to look at Zew.

She was trying to understand what could be missing.

'It seems Bek took a wrong turn and became manipulated by the Demon King's Army.'

Garm mentioned Bek, who had once been heralded as Albahar reincarnated, and was manipulated by Kyubel into becoming a sacrifice to resurrect the Evil God.

"What do you mean?"

'I guess it was unavoidable if Kyuplas was with them.'

"Again, I don't follow…"

Shea frowned, struggling to understand what Garm was getting at.

'I'm saying that there's an open slot now that Bek, who inherited Gil and Muza's power, is gone. Hah!'

Poof

"Huh? Ghah?!"

"Lord Zew?!"

Garm vanished from there and appeared holding onto Zew's back, covering his mouth with so much force that Zew's jaw began to make creaking noises.

'Don't squirm around now, unless you don't want to become Unbound. This way you'll be able to activate Full Beast Mode.'

"Mgh?!"

Divine Power began emanating from Garm's hand and entered Zew's mouth.

Then Garm jumped off and returned to his earlier spot.

"So that's why I became Unbound…because there was a slot open. Does this mean that the Beast King is no longer Unbound too then?"

When Shea fought the Beast King Muza, he was clearly in Extra Mode.

If everything Garm said was true, then Zew was now in Extra Mode too and could use Full Beast Mode. That meant the challenge would be harder for her.

'I wonder about that.'

Garm did not seem willing to tell anything to Shea.

But if what he had said was true, then Muza, Bek, and Gil were no longer in Extra Mode, leaving 3 open slots. Shea had entered Extra Mode around the time she gave up on becoming Beast King, and now it seemed like Garm had purposely used one of those open slots for her.

'Hmph, was your conviction not strong enough then?'

"Not at all. I lost it for a moment, but I'm shocked to see it back."

'I see you're being honest now. Regardless, now the terms are equal, so you can compete.'

"We'll go with you, Lord Zew!"

"R-right. I feel an immense power inside me, I feel like we can win like this."

"Yes, you can do it!!"

Hobah continued supporting Zew.

"The terms…"

While Zew and Hobah talked, Shea thought back to the winning conditions.

Now that Allen was not with her, she was finally starting to understand why he always wrote notes. They helped keep track of winning conditions.

She had always relied on Allen to do the planning, and only now was realizing how important that was. So she tried to think about everything.

[Outline of Garm's challenge]

-Shea and Zew will go up on different stairs, and the first one to reach the top will get Garm's trial

-Both of them can gain Divine Techniques and Blessings as they go up

-Only the one who reaches Garm first can get his Divine Artifact

-The number of floors and challenges are unknown

-Only the one who reaches Garm first can take the trial

[Shea's condition]

-She has completed the trials of Albahar and Giran, possessing the Skill [Full Beast Mode], Divine Technique [Divine Wind Consecutive Hits], and Divine Artifact [Divine Wind Shoes]

-Her only companion is the summon Luvanka

-Luvanka can be summoned for 1 month

-Her orichalcum knuckle guards were recently renewed

-She has rings, necklaces, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, anklets, and belts to raise all of her stats, elements, and resistances

-Her magic bag holds 1000 Heaven's Blessings, 100 Golden Eggs, and countless other recovery items from summons

-Her magic bag has enough food and water to survive 1 year, and all sorts of camping tools

[Zew's condition]

-Zew is in Extra Mode and can use Full Beast Mode

-He's accompanied by 9 of the Ten Heroic Beasts, with Temi away

-The Ten Heroic Beasts have orichalcum equipment (and some equipment made with monster leather), and have 5 Star Talents

-He has more than 20 rings, necklaces, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, anklets, and belts to raise all stats, elements, and resistances

-His magic bag holds 1000 Heaven's Blessings, 100 Golden Eggs, and countless other recovery items from summons

-His magic bag has enough food and water to survive 1 year, and all sorts of camping tools

[The Ten Heroic Beasts (all have 5 Star Talents)]

-Hammer Beast Emperor Hobah, a bear beastman who serves as Zew's general, male

-Halberd Beast Emperor Lazo, a rhinoceros beastman, part of the Royal Knights, male

-Sword Beast Emperor Hachi, a Akita dog beastman, part of the Royal Knights, male

-Claw Beast Emperor Pazu, a badger beastman, female

-Twin Swords Beast Emperor Senu, a leopard beastman, male

-Archer Beast Emperor Geso, a porcupine beastman, male

-Holy Beast Sage Fui, a goat beastman, female

-Musician Beast Emperor Lepe, a fox beastman, male

-Mage Emperor Rato, a rat beastman, female

[Note]

-Fortune Teller Beast Temi, a squirrel beastman, female (not present)

The Ten Heroic Beasts were picked from all different fighting roles, and they had gained a lot of power from following Zew to the S Rank Dungeon and undergoing Talent Changes.

They had also fought the Demon King's Army for more than 1 year, making them a threat.

'A prolonged fight would be disadvantageous, it seems.'

"You'll be gone after 1 month after all."

Summons would vanish after 1 month, and Shea had no way to summon Luvanka again.

'Exactly.'

'Your courage will be tested now, so give it your best. Your challenge starts now!!'

Garm gave the signal to start, and both groups ran to the stairs.

Shea and Zew could only think of winning now.

Shea was part of Allen's party, so her equipment was better.

Luvanka was also an S Rank summon, so he had 40000 Agility.

"Hm! Lepe!"

Zew called Lepe as soon as they started.

"Let's go! Follow my beat!! [Charging March]!!"

Lepe held out his hand and used magic to create a trumpet.

Then he puffed his chest and began blowing into it, activating the [Charging March] buff.

A how breeze blew through Zew's group and they all accelerated, running faster and going up the stairs to the next floor.

Above, there was an enormous hall many kilometers wide, making it impossible to see the other side.

'There's stairs there.'

There was an enormous staircase leading up around 100 meters in front of them.

"Hmm…this is different from what I expected, but let's get going!"

Shea felt like her determination had been questioned her whole life.

There was a staircase in front of her, and nothing else around. She had been told that there would be a challenge on each floor, but trying to win against Zew was more important than worrying about that.

'Alright!'

Shea and Luvanka ran forward. They were only 100 meters away from the stairs, and it would barely take a moment for them to run that distance.

But then there was a whooshing sound when they were mere steps away from it.

"Hm?"

'Dodge!! Mghuh?!'

Shea had only been focusing on the staircase, so she was shocked when something passed right in front of her.

It was a leg, and Shea was running directly into it, and she was going too fast to dodge.

So Luvanka embraced her with his 6 arms, protecting her stomach.

The leg that had appeared suddenly kicked both of them and sent them flying back.

'Who said you could go up these stairs? I don't remember giving you permission.'

Cougar, the leopard Beast Demigod, stood there, hopping lightly on his two legs.

"So you won't just let us pass?"

'That's what I said.'

"I'll go from the right."

'Then I'll go left.'

Shea and Luvanka quickly agreed on how to proceed.

She started circling around Cougar to the right, and Luvanka went around the left.

'Oh, a pincer attack? That's a good idea.'

Shea started feeling nervous seeing Cougar in front of her.

She and Luvanka had been running as fast as they could, but Cougar had overtaken them.

That meant Cougar was faster than them, was 3 meters tall, and could stand on two feet to fight with his arms.

But that also meant that it would be harder for him to fend off attacks from opposite sides.

The two started to increase the distance between them while keeping an eye on the staircase.

'How far are you planning on going? But it doesn't matter from where you attack.'

Cougar started to move away from the staircase in response.

"Now, Luvanka!"

'Alright!'

'Come!'

Shea and Luvanka jumped at the same time, but they were heading to the staircase.

They had decided to avoid fighting Cougar and just head up.

Their mission was to reach the top floor, not to fight the Beast Demigods.

Shea got closer and closer to the stairs, and then began going up.

And then she felt like something was off. Luvanka was not coming.

"No way?!!"

Shea was trying to go up without fighting Cougar, but Luvanka had something more important to do first.

Once he saw that Shea was at the stairs, he turned around and went towards Cougar.

'Oh? So you'll stay back and entertain me? Take this!'

'Ghah?! Shea, run upstairs!!'

Luvanka shouted at Shea to just go without him.

Meanwhile Cougar just focused on kicking and pursuing Luvanka.