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

The dragonkin warden Abigayle led Allen's group through the ghost swarm. Allen had activated [Floating Wings] again, so they were flying a few meters off the ground.

(Now that I think about it, this forest is really big. How does he know where the ghosts are?)

[Thousand-mile Eyes] let Allen see how the forest spanned hundreds of kilometers.
It would take at least a month to traverse it on foot.

"Do strong ghosts not move within the swarm?"

"Oh they do, but usually they stay in a limited territory."

Stronger ghosts would move between set locations. Currently Abigayle was taking them to the place where a Demigod Rank ghost was most likely to be.
Abigayle's experience looking after the ghost swarm for many years was obvious.
Meanwhile Allen continued looking through the forest with Thousand-mile Eyes.

(How much longer is this going to take? I can't see too many details with Thousand-mile Eyes.)

Kuwatoro's [Appraiser Eyes] could only be used on targets within 100 meters of her main body.
Allen could see many enemies with [Thousand-mile Eyes], but they all were unique in their own ways, so he was unsure of which one was their target. He could only trust Abigayle for now.
Around an hour later they stopped, the Demigod Rank ghost was less than 100 meters away, and Allen wanted to be prepared before the fight.

"Makris, use Royal Guard and Royal Aura."

'Leave it to meeee~'

[Effects of Makris' Royal Guard]
-Strength and Endurance +3000
-Strength and Endurance +10%
-All damage taken reduced by 30%
-200 Strength recovered every second

[Effects of Makris' Royal Aura]
-Strength and Mana +10%
-Attack and Intelligence +5000
-All attack damage dealt increased by 30%
-Cooldowns reduced by 50%

Particles of light rained around them, granting power to Allen's group. They were receiving both the Special Skill [Royal Guard] and the Awakened Skill [Royal Aura].
Kiel and Rosalina also used their buffs, preparing for the fight.
As they did that, Digragni's voice came from above them.

'Oh! Merle, you're fighting ghosts!!'

"Yeah, do you want to help too, Digragni?"

'But of course. I might even become a demigod this way. I'm glad I chose to help you.'

Allen felt like Digragni was acting too arrogantly considering he was so high above.

"Let's go then. Digragni-Ooooooooooooooooooooonn!!"

A large magic circle appeared above Tam-Tam, from which Digragni's black body emerged.
Digragni covered all of Tam-Tam's body parts, creating a strong contrast against Tam-Tam's shiny red body.

"Is this really happening…"

Galara was shocked seeing that. There were many golem pilots in the Central Continent, and Galara was more powerful than all of them. But this left even him speechless.
He could not hide his shock to learn Digragni was working with Merle.

(Hmm, Digragni as a demigod. Maybe he could get Merle into Extra Mode that way? I'll have to negotiate that with him later.)

So far Dogora, Kurena, and Shea were the only ones in Extra Mode. People needed to approach a God directly to enter Extra Mode, so maybe if Digragni became a demigod he would be able to get Merle into Extra Mode as well. Allen could not stop smirking thinking about that.
While Allen thought of that, Digragni finished settling in as Tam-Tam's exoskeleton, raising all stats above 10000. The buffs were all applied as well, so they were ready for battle.

'Gyurrrrr!!'

A strange sound came from the mist ahead. Allen checked with Thousand-mile Eyes and saw a ghost with the lower body of a scorpion and upper body of a centaur, with scorpion claws on both hands. Its entire body was covered in blue flames, which grew and decayed as it breathed.

(He's pretty strong, and old. I guess that's because no one tried hunting him for a long time.)

Allen Appraised the ghost's stats. As a Demigod Rank ghost, he was stronger than the rest.

[Name] Danies
[Age] 8290
[Species] Soul Crusher
[Strength] 98700
[Mana] 78900
[Spiritual Power] 64500
[Attack] 99700
[Endurance] 96700
[Agility] 87800
[Intelligence] 59700
[Luck] 0
[Attack Element] Curse, Poison
[Endurance Element] Ice, Lightning, Poison, Physical Resistance

(He has a Curse Element, that's bad. Though we can win against the rest of his stats.)

"...Something is riling them up after all."

Abigayle frowned seeing the ghost, his voice clearly distressed.

"You can tell?"

"Usually he's never here, his territory is still further ahead."

Usually Danies stayed further away, but something had lured him here.
Abigayle assumed it was related to the other ghost Nestiad they mentioned before.

"There's only one enemy, let's get in formation and attack. Everyone to your posts."

"Dogora, don't force yourself to attack, always be ready to pull back."

Curse attacks left wounds that could not be healed, except by holy water, and when the curse was too strong not even holy water had an effect. That was how Doberg lost an eye.
So Allen made sure everyone could retreat safely whenever they were in danger.

"Let's focus mostly on long range attacks!!"

Allen used the Bird F summon's Special Skill [Transmission] to give out the orders.

'Gyurorororoo!!'

As they approached a bit more, the ghost Danies noticed them and raised his claws before charging ahead.

"Lady Sophiarone, stand back!!"

Danies rushed at them with a high speed, so Formar shot arrows at him.
He was using the [Devil's Bow] which they found in the Gates of Trials, which was a high level bow. It did not require arrows, and instead consumed 1000 Mana to fire.
In this world Mana cost was correlated with a Skill's power, so the light arrows shot by the bow were incredibly powerful, and Formar aimed at the heart of the human part of Danies' body.
But the moment the arrow landed, it shattered with a loud noise, without doing any damage.

[Name] Formar
[Age] 70
[Talent] Archer King
[Level] 60
[Strength] 3736 + 2400
[Mana] 1949
[Attack] 3965 + 2400
[Endurance] 2960 + 2400
[Agility] 3428 + 2400
[Intelligence] 1566
[Luck] 1972 + 2400
[Skills] Archer King (6), Farsight (6), Fire Dragon Strike (6), Strong Bow (6), Tight Draw (6), Launch (2), Archery (6)
[Extra Skill] Light Arrow

[Weapon] Made of orichalcum: Attack 20000, Accuracy +50%
[Armor] Spirit robe: Endurance +6000, Magic Resistance, Breath Resistance
[Ring 1] Attack +5000, Attack +5000
[Ring 2] Attack +5000, Attack +5000
[Necklace] Attack + 3000, Attack + 3000
[Earring 1] Physical Attack Damage +7%, Strength +2000
[Earring 2] Physical Attack Damage +7%, Strength +2000

(His stats should let him do more damage though…)

Formar's stats had gone up thanks to Kasagoma's new Skills. He also had new equipment from the Gates of Trials, and he had received plenty of buffs from Makris.

"Wait, leave it to me! Mega Fire!!"

Cecile began attacking Danies as well, activating her Divine Technique and then using her Fire Magic Level 3 spell on Danies, engulfing his body in flames. She also had Makris' Sacred Bead, which decreased her cooldowns by a lot, letting her follow up with more attacks.

"Sophie, Merle, you two can also start attacking from range."

"Understood, Master Allen. Wind Spirit Gale, use your wind to cut my enemy!!"

Sophie manifested the spirit Gale, who unleashed blades of wind on the ghost.

'Alright, let me get some Faith too!!'

Digragni's greedy voice thundered from above.

"Okay!! Let's go Tam-Tam!!"

'Yes, Merle. Let's exterminate him.'

Tam-Tam began attacking from range, empowered by Digragni.

'Gyuro?!'

There was no need to get close and risk being hit by a curse attack.
Galara's golems also began attacking, being equipped with Vulcan Cannon Stone Slabs.
Abigayle had mentioned that the trees of the forest were important, but Allen barely remembered that as all the firepower turned it into a barren and scorched land.

(Good good, we can chip away his Strength like this!!)

Allen monitored Danies' Strength with Appraiser Eyes, seeing it continuously drop down. The ghost's stats were very high so they could not defeat him instantly, but it was good enough for a ranged battle. Even Makris joined with his Special Skill [Freeze Cannon].
It really seemed like they would be able to defeat the ghost at that rate.

'Gyururororo!!'

But then Danies cried loudly, the scorpion half of his body squatting down.
Allen could easily guess what that meant.
A moment later he lunged ahead while holding his pincer hands in front.

"Mirror, reflect everything!!"

Allen brought forth his Stone B summon with Growth Level 9.

'...'

'Guruo?!'

Even Growth Level 9 was not enough for the summon's stats to get close to Danies'.
But 80000 Endurance was enough to block the ghost's charge, and the impact was reflected with many times the strength, which caused heavy damage on Danies as blue flames sputtered away like blood.

Allen could see Danies' Strength fall below a third of its initial value. But the ghost still kept trying to get up.
Since he had gotten so close, Dogora and Shea sprang into action to stop him from getting closer.

"Shea, you keep him still, then I'll tear him apart."

'Got it, Dogora. Beast Mode!! Graaawwrrrrrrrrrr!!!'

Shea quickly activated her Skill [Beast Mode], transforming into a beast.

'Gyurururu!!'

As Shea dashed forward, Danies raised his scorpion tail to attack with his stinger.

'Beast King Explosive Punch!!'

Dodging the stinger, Shea activated a Skill, her fist reinforced with orichalcum striking with an explosion.

(Ohh! Shea's also getting stronger, and she can control Beast Mode better.)

The Beast God Garm had let Shea enter Extra Mode before they went to the Gates of Trials.
That meant her Levels had all been reset, but after 3 months of training, and the Experience from destroying all the Demon King's Army's Strongholds in the Central Continent she had maxed out her Level again. Now she did not struggle too much against a Demigod Rank ghost.

[Beast Mode's effects]
-The effect lasts for 1 hour
-Spends 10000 Mana (can be activated with less, but the effect is weaker)
-The caster receives Attack +5000, Agility +5000, and Physical Damage dealt +10%
-Any beastmen within a 50 meter radius also gain Attack +3000, Agility +3000, and Physical Damage dealt +5% for 1 hour
-Increasing the Skill Level by 1 increases the effect by Attack +5000, Agility +5000, and Physical Damage dealt +10%
-Increasing the Skill Level by 1 increases the buff to nearby beastmen by Attack +3000, Agility +3000, and Physical Damage dealt +5%
-Increasing the Skill Level by 1 increases the radius of that buff by 100 meters

While Dogora raised the Divine Artifact Kagutsuchi into the air and channeled all his Mana, Shea mercilessly continued to destroy Danies' claws.

'Dogora, I'm ready!!'

Shea shouted loudly and then Dogora charged ahead. Shea had crippled most of Danies' mobility so that Dogora's attack could land more easily.

"Body and Soul!!"

'Gyyurapyaaaah?!'

Dogora's Skill [Body and Soul] sliced through Danies' body, from his human upper body down to the scorpion lower half.

(So Dogora and Shea's combined attack works on Demigod Rank ghosts. Though we had already weakened the ghost. Let's see how much Experience I get.)

Allen looked at the logs on his Grimoire and saw that he had Leveled Up.

'You defeated 1 Ghost. You obtained 1000'000'000 Faith. You obtained 100'000'000 Spiritual Power. You obtained 100'000'000 Divine Power. You obtained 5 Talent Change Points. Your Level has reached 140. You gained Strength +1500, Mana +2400, Attack +840, Endurance +840, Agility +1560, Intelligence +2400, Luck +1560.'

"Wha-?! I gained 10 Levels."

Allen's Level increased by 10 after defeating the Demigod Rank ghost Danies.

'Ohhhhhhhhhhh!! I've become a demigod!!'

While Allen voiced his surprise, Digragni also shouted loudly up in the air.