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

Peromus and Bek's escape attempt had started.

"Ngh?!"

Peromus raised both his arms to block, but the demon's punch sent him flying back.

"Hm? Hum!!"

Hearing Peromus' grunt, Bek jumped back and effortlessly smashed the demon's head.

The more noise they made, the more demons came to stop them.

But Bek easily overpowered any attackers.

He effortlessly defeated them.

Peromus realized that the stories Shea told about the beastman who resembled Garm the closest were all true.

"Thank you, Lord Bek."

"Don't mention it. I'm counting on you for healing."

"Yes, leave that to me."

While the demons were reduced to mincemeat with just a few punches, Bek would sometimes take a hit too.

Bek did all the fighting, while Peromus stood back and used the healing items Allen gave him.

Peromus also had an adamantite dagger, but he focused more on healing.

His Endurance was also around 15000, so unless he took many successive hits, he could handle it.

He also told Bek to use Skills as much as he wanted, outputting constant high damage.

But Peromus did not know how long the fight would take, so he was trying to use the recovery items sparingly.

They interrogated a few demons that seemed to be non-combatants, and found that this place was secluded from the outside world, and the only way out was through the teleporter room.

Peromus had been brought from that room, so he knew roughly where to go.

There were three floors there, and the third one had the teleporter room.

They were a detour before heading there now.

After smashing the door on the first floor, they found a research room.

Bek insisted on going there, saying he had to pick up something.

Each room was dedicated to a different type of research, filled with strange experiments.

But there were no specimens caught and left alive like Peromus.

The rooms were filled with dissected bodies, and even dead demons.

"Hm? Ohh, so that's the Beast King's Emblem!"

Bek had been looking for the Beast King's Emblem, which he had stolen from Albahar.

It was a set of orichalcum armor, orichalcum knuckle guards, and the Sacred Bird Kuwatoro's Bracelet.

It was all thrown aside to a corner, like it was worthless trash.

"Nice! Quick, put it on! And ohh, so that's the Sacred Bird Kuwatoro's Bracelet!!"

Peromus exclaimed with joy, seeing the set with a yellow shine.

Getting Bek to be stronger was important to escape from this place crawling with enemies.

With that equipment, Bek would be even stronger.

"You're telling me to wear the Beast King's Emblem? Hmm…"

"Why even doubt that? We need all the help we can get to escape from here."

Bek hesitated, which made Peromus even more impatient.

"You don't want to wear it?"

Then Peromus realized that while life was important, some things could be even more important.

Maybe Bek had something like that too.

"There's a girl I want to spend my future with. I can't afford to remain trapped here!"

Peromus wanted to escape and meet with her.

That was also the reason why he had come to Prostia.

"For a girl…nevermind…"

Bek seemed surprised someone would have something like that as motivation.

That was something he had never heard for more than half his life, yet it was a younger man who said it now.

Hearing his determination made Bek even more pensive.

"Let's hurry now. More demons are going to come."

"Right."

Even though they were in a hurry, Peromus did not forget to appraise everything.

"This armor is designed to not obstruct movement, I see. Wait, what's this?"

It was different to the plate armor Dogora wore.

It was meant for fighters, so the armor left various places exposed.

Peromus felt like the armor with a yellow shine fit a lion beastman like Bek well.

Bek examined the knuckle guards with an unsure look.

It seemed like he had never tried wearing them before.

He was also wearing another bracelet.

It had no Sacred Bead, and it was a translucent light blue.

"That's Aqua's blessing. One of Ignomas' servants gave it to me so I could come here."

"Ohh!! The thing that lets you breathe underwater."

"Yes. I got it, but didn't get to use it in the end."

Bek had obtained it from one of Ignomas' servants, but because Sinorom deceived him, he never got to use it in the end.

[Bek's main accessories]:

-Bracelet 1: Cooldowns halved, Dodge +20%, Strength +5000, Agility +5000

-Bracelet 2: Underwater Breathing, Strength +2000, Mana +2000

-Ring 1: Attack + 5000

-Ring 2: Attack + 5000

-Necklace: Attack + 3000

-Earring 1: Physical Attack Damage +7%

-Earring 2: Physical Attack Damage +7%

[Bek's main armament]:

-Orichalcum knuckle guards: Attack 12000

-Orichalcum armor: Endurance 10000

Bek took the lead, his incredible strength opening a path for them.

After wearing the Beast King's Emblem, Bek became even more stronger.

The Sacred Bird Kuwatoro's Bracelet granted him even more Agility, making him faster than any of the demons.

After a while, they reached the stairs leading to the second floor.

The stairs leading to the second floor were wide, seemingly designed to transport something.

There was a large room before the stairs, with one man standing in it.

'I was wondering what all the ruckus was about, and it turns out it's just two little bugs scurrying around. I'm the guardian of these stairs, the Demon Great General Ledragoch. And you, you look like the sacrifice…'

Sinorom's research location had many rooms, as well as many corridors, but it was not built like a very complex maze.

The news of the incident had quickly reached the top floor.

"So you're going to be in our way? Hum!!"

'Y-you can't-! Ghah!!'

Bek's skill filled his orichalcum-covered fists with immense power, literally pulverizing the Demon Great General.

Peromus and Bek went up the stairs and reached the second floor.

"The Sacred Beast Stone is supposed to be on this floor."

"That's what they said."

There were also researchers and non-combatant demons.

Demons that fought were comparable to A Rank monsters, but the others were relatively weak.

According to the researchers, the Sacred Beast Stone was on the second floor.

[Mimic]'s effect on Peromus was quickly reaching its end.

Bek who was with him now kept wondering why Peromus was rushing so much.

At least he understood they had to do something about the Sacred Beast Stone.

Bek and Peromus headed to the place they were told about on the first floor.

Smashing the door, Peromus entered together with Bek, finding a blue object moving inside a water tank.

"Hieee?!"

Someone wearing a white coat was instantly grabbed by Bek.

Bek was terribly feared by demons who could not fight.

"What is that?"

"Huhh? Y-you really think we'll tell- ghahh?!"

The moment he tried to resist, Bek applied more force into his neck, lifting him into the air.

They had seen water tanks like that so far, but this one was tens of times larger.

And in the center there was something bobbing up and down, the size of a soccer ball.

"Could it be the Sacred Beast Stone Kyubel mentioned? It looks similar to crystal seeds."

The object in the tank resembled the two crystal seeds Peromus had bought in the Magic Shop.

Everything seemed to line up, leading to this conclusion.

The 3000 crystal seeds had been used for some sort of experiment here.

Kyubel wanted to transport it somewhere now.

He wanted to change the spot from the warehouse to some other location.

The 3000 crystal had been carried here and used for some sort of experiment.

"Wha-?! H-how do you..!!"

The demon reacted when crystal seeds were mentioned.

Their suspicions were correct, that was the Sacred Beast Stone.

He tried appraising it to have an idea what it was or what it was used for, but nothing came out.

Either his Skill Level was still too low, or this was an item he could not check like that.

That left Peromus no other choice, and his body became enveloped in something like a heat haze.

He had activated his Extra Skill [Valuate] to gain at least a bit of information.

'It's worth 999999999999 gold coins.'

"Huh?! That's an incredible price. Or is it just that it can't be measured?"

Trying to compare it to its worth in gold coins outputted an unthinkable sum.

It could also compare against a country, to see if their budget would be enough to buy something.

But if compared to nothing but gold coins, it could display the highest price.

This was the first time something was outside its measuring range.

"What is it?"

Bek noticed Peromus had encountered something strange.

"It appears to have incredible value. Could you tell us what you're going to do with it?"

"Wh-who do- Ghahhhh?! I-I'll tell you, I'll tell you!!"

When the demon refused to answer at first, Bek's grip became tighter.

That quickly made the demon talk.

The Sacred Beast Stone had been made with the 3000 crystal seeds.

Bek's blood alone was not enough to resurrect the Evil God.

The Evil God's resurrection was divided in three steps.

The first step was to use Bek's blood and undo the seal on the Evil God.

The second step was to use the souls captured with the Divien artifact and restore the Evil God's power.

But then the Evil God would end up running wild, with nothing to control it.

So the third step was to use the Sacred Beast Stone and stabilize the Evil God's behavior.

The plan was to kill Makris, and use the soul of Aqua's Servant to power the Sacred Beast Stone, which would stabilize the Evil God's Behavior.

It seemed like the Sacred Beast Stone was an item to control the Evil God.

"So they planned on killing the Sacred Fish Makris even."

Peromus had to get one of Makris' tears for his beloved Fiona.

It seemed like the mermen's venerated Makris also had something to do with keeping the Evil God under control.

"Th-that's all. I've told you everything I know. So just let…me…gyah?!"

Bek's hand crushed the demon's throat.

"What's wrong?"

"...It's nothing. I just don't think we should leave the Sacred Beast Stone here."

There were demons that tried running away from them, but Bek killed everyone.

It did not matter if they begged for their lives or had no way of fighting back.

Bek had a far harsher personality than Shea or Zew.

Crash!

Peromus broke the water tank with his adamantite dagger, grabbing the Sacred Beast Stone.

He then stashed it away in his magic bag.

The bag's opening was not very large, but as a magic device, it could store quite big things.

'What are you doing?!'

An elderly demon stood on the smashed doors leading into the room.

This time he looked like an actual demon.

There was an enormous eyeball monster with tentacles behind him.

"You, Sinorom!"

Bek became even more angered in an instant.

'Where is the Sacred Beast Stone!! Damn you!! Little Gii, get them!!'

The moment he realized the Sacred Beast Stone was missing from the tank, Sinorom gave the eyeball monster an order.

Its tentacles moved out, ready to attack Bek and Peromus.

While Peromus assumed a defensive stance, Bek rushed forward to hit the monster.

"Ghuh!!"

One of the tentacles hit Bek in the face, slicing his skin and shedding blood.

"Lord Bek!!"

"I'm good. Hmph!"

Bek's feet began moving differently, matching the tentacles' irregular movements to evade them.

'Gii!'

Even more tentacles appeared.

"Uwahhh?!"

Even Peromus who was standing back was hit by the tentacles.

"Do you think that'll help you? Beast Mode!!"

The fur on Bek's body became more dense, and his muscles swelled up.

He looked even closer to a lion.

Bek had used his Extra Skill [Beast Mode].

'Hm? That's Garm's power! Little Gii, get them!'

'Try if you want!!!'

Bek leapt, ready to devour everything.

He punched violently, ready to tear the eyeball monster apart.

The eyeball monster was sent flying, grotesque fluids splashing everywhere.

'H-hiee, he's too strong! I-I can't handle this!!'

"Ah, he ran away?!"

Sinorom was strong enough to catch Peromus, but he could not match Bek in Beast Mode.

Sinorom ran off and headed to the stairs.

The eyeball monster also followed after him.

'I-idiot! Stay behind and stop them, little Gii!!'

'Gii?!'

Sinorom instructed the eyeball monster to stay as a distraction while he escaped.

The eyeball monster just stared at him, as if wondering if he really meant that.

After a while, it followed after Sinorom regardless.

"A-are you alright? I feel like you lost more blood than we expected."

'I'm good.'

Peromus tried using Heaven's Blessing, but was shocked to see the bleeding would not stop, and the wounds would not heal.

"Huh?"

'Hm?'

"It's nothing, I was just wondering if you lose your mind when you enter Beast Mode?"

Shea had mentioned that the Extra Skill [Beast Mode] was meant for the Beast King, and made one lose their sanity.

Even Beast King Muza had ended up acting instinctively when he fought Allen and Dogora.

'Those who possess true power don't lose themselves in front of the Beast God Garm!'

Bek's voice had become far more guttural, but he seemed to still be conscious.

Bek and Peromus chased after Sinorom.

They headed to a rather large room, with a set of stairs that led to the third floor.

Sinorom and the eyeball monster did not stop there, and went straight up to the third floor.

But Bek and Peromus stopped.

There was someone dressed like a clown in front of them.

'I'm Timarad, a Demon General serving directly under Master Kyubel. You've been given enough playtime now, heheh.' 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

A Demon General stood in front of them, greeting them with a confident smile.

Bek and Peromus had to fight a Demon General now.