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

Cecile and Formar were halfway up the mountain where the Great Spirit God resided.

Merus arrived at a Nest placed nearby too.

"Lord Merus, how is Lady Sophiarone doing?"

As soon as he arrived, Formar asked with a nervous look on his face.

'It's a bit of a sticky situation. We don't have much time so I'll have to be quick…'

Merus told them how the conversation between Allen and the Great Spirit God went.

The First Angel Lupto had come to mediate, and the Great Spirit God had reconsidered the conditions. That resulted in a fight with Rosen and Fabre in Spirit Beast form, and if Allen lost, the Spirit Beasts would go and destroy all elves and dark elves.

"What! That's messed up! It's not fair at all!!"

Cecile sounded enraged.

'But Allen accepted those conditions and is fighting now. It seemed like the best option for elves, dark elves, and the Spirit Gods.'

"So the situation demands the use of the Mirror of Truth then. We should hurry and find it."

'Yes, Formar. We have to get going.'

Thanks to Merus' Special Skill [Angel's Ring], he could activate Kuwatoro's Special Skill [Floating Wings], which let them fly up towards the peak of the mountain.

Allen had not discussed whether he could use the Mirror of Truth or not during his discussion with the Great Spirit God, in fear he would prohibit its use, and only asked a vague question on if there was anything he could not do during the fight.

"This makes things much easier."

The rocky mountain had few footholds, so flying was a faster way to reach the top.

'Don't lower your guard, they're almost here!'

Merus said with a hurried voice. The reason why he was sent there, even though Allen was struggling so much, was catching up to them.

'You can't go further, pon.'

'Where are you going, kon? The area ahead is off limits, kon.'

The Great Spirit God's gatekeepers Ponzu and Konzu blocked their path.

They had gotten rid of their Young Spirit appearance, and now were 10 meters tall.

Ponzu's raccoon legs were thick and muscular, while Konzu stood on all fours, with 9 flaming tails behind him.

'Makris, Kuwatoro, we'll stop them here.'

'Leave it to me!'

'They'll only go through my dead body.'

Makris and Kuwatoro would stay there to buy time.

[Name] Ponzu

[Age] 72582

[Species] Spirit

[Strength] 122000

[Mana] 150000

[Spiritual Power] 156000

[Attack] 130000

[Endurance] 154000

[Agility] 128000

[Intelligence] 120000

[Luck] 118000

[Attack Element] Earth

[Endurance Element] Earth

[Name] Konzu

[Age] 75521

[Species] Spirit

[Strength] 132000

[Mana] 134000

[Spiritual Power] 132000

[Attack] 154000

[Endurance] 100000

[Agility] 152000

[Intelligence] 112000

[Luck] 130000

[Attack Element] Fire

[Endurance Element] Fire

-Total stats with buffs

[Name] Merus

[Strength] 94380

[Mana] 71500

[Attack] 80000

[Endurance] 63800

[Agility] 85000

[Intelligence] 80000

[Luck] 55000

[Buffs and magic used on Merus]

-Allen's Skill [Growth], raises all stats by 40000

-Allen's Skill [Kingship], raises all stats by 10000

-Allen's Skill [Strengthening], raises all stats by 5000

-Sophie's spirits, Luck's spirits

-Makris Special Skill [Royal Guard], and Awakened Skill [Royal Aura]

Merus had received all the same buffs as Allen from Sophie and Luck, including those from the Fish S summon, but the two spirits were still stronger.

'Freeze Cannooonnnnn.'

Makris shot an icicle at Ponzu, which traveled at high speed, but Ponzu did not even flinch.

'Hmph!'

Ponzu punched forward while lowering his stance a little, shattering the icicle.

'It's preposterous that you thought such feeble attacks would get you past us, kon! Burn down, kon!!'

'I won't let you!!'

Konzu's tails began to spin around, trying to burn down Merus, but Kuwatoro quickly changed shape to extend her 100 meter wide wings to blow the fire away, letting Merus step back.

But Kuwatoro was not able to fend off all the flames, some of them burning her.

The Wraith A summon that was there quickly used a Heaven's Blessing, healing Kuwatoro.

"Is it going to work?"

Cecile could tell that Ponzu and Konzu were stronger than the summons.

'...They aren't strong enough to be an issue. Keep going!'

Merus replied without even turning his face.

"Let's go, Cecile! Lady Sophiarone needs the Mirror of Truth!!"

"I know!"

Hearing Formar, Cecile knew what she had to do, so they left, leaving Merus behind.

'I said you can't go further, pon!!'

But Ponzu had been watching them the entire time, and jumped with his powerful legs to catch up.

'You aren't going anywhere!!'

But then Merus' fist dug itself deep into Ponzu's stomach.

"Merus!!"

'Don't worry! Just keep going!!'

Merus quickly adjusted his stance to face off against Ponzu and Konzu.

Makris and Kuwatoro also joined him, all the summons ready to do anything to stop them.

"Let's go…"

Cecile hesitated for a bit, but hearing Formar she shook it off and continued going to the peak.

Behind them the loud noises of creatures with immense stats fighting could be heard.

Less than 10 minutes later they were at the peak, which looked like a volcano's crater.

The Dew of Life sprouted from there, before trickling down the mountain onto the Spring of Life.

"So the Mirror of Truth is supposed to be somewhere around here."

Cecile stood at the edge of the crater and looked into water, which was pretty deep.

The water was clear so she could see deep inside, but there was nothing like a mirror there.

"...Maybe it's that glowing thing down there?"

Formar noticed something glowing at the bottom of the crater.

"I guess an archer with good eyes can come in handy in times like these."

"That's the first time someone compliments me about that."

Formar did not seem too comfortable being told that, though all archers did have good eyesight.

"We don't have much time. We should get started right away."

"Right."

Formar and Cecile nodded at each other and took out what they carried in magic bags.

Larappa's dwarves had built something to help them obtain the Mirror of Truth.

It was a remote controlled search device, based on something Allen saw in his past life.

The Dew of Life there dissolved any living being instantly there, but Allen had been able to carry the liquid in a magic bag, so he relayed that information to Larappa.

It looked like a barrel with a screw propeller on the back, and two arms and a large lens on the front.

Cecile and Formar tried to suppress their impatience as they moved into position, just like they had practiced many times in the last few days.

For redundancy's sake, there were two devices, one for Formar and one for Cecile.

"First we turn them on with this device…and they're on!!"

They also had their respective controllers. They pressed the touchscreens the way they practiced, and the lenses on the barrels soon began to glow.

"Everything's ready, let's submerge them."

Formar quickly put his barrel into the crater with Dew of Life.

Then he looked at the screen as he controlled the barrel to head towards the Mirror of Truth.

The propeller spun really fast and the device quickly went deep into the crater.

"There it is, the mirror. Hm?"

Formar could see a mirror on his screen, which was large enough to be held with two hands.

He controlled the arms to move forward and grab it, but they stopped halfway there, then his screen went black.

"What, did it break? I'll get it."

Next Cecile pushed her barrel into the water, but it also broke down soon enough, and the barrel floated up and bobbed on the surface.

"They're completely broken, even the Magic Cores."

They collected the floating barrels and tried to turn them on again, but they would not work.

They even used rare Magic Cores to power them just in case, but that had not been enough.

"But it worked so well in all the tests. Is the water of the crater different?"

Cecile was confused as to why it had not worked. All the test runs they conducted had worked flawlessly until then, but now all they could do was stare at each other.

The echoes of the violent fight between the summons and Ponzu and Konzu were still audible in the distance.

"Blizzard!!"

Cecile tried to freeze the water, but it just absorbed all the magic and remained undisturbed.

"So it's just like the Spring of Life and magic doesn't have an effect."

"Let's just tell Allen the plan failed for now. We'll need Tonies' help after all."

Cecile decided it was best to tell Allen what happened. Their plan had failed and they could not obtain the Mirror of Truth. Things worked differently there compared to the Spring of Life, but maybe Tonies would be able to take out the mirror.

"The magic devices didn't work, so I doubt Tonies can do much either. But there's another way."

Formar believed Tonies would not be able to do much either, considering the magic devices had failed. So after a deep breath, he took out his coat and other upper body clothing.

"Hey, what are you doing? Formar, you can't be-!"

"Please take good care of Lady Sophiarone."

Saying that, he dove into the water. He could hear Cecile scream something behind him, but he ignored her and focused on the mirror at the bottom of the crater.

Formar began paddling with his legs, quickly diving deeper. He could feel like his skin was on fire, and his Mana was being sucked out of him. Not even elves could resist the effects.

But he endured and reached the bottom 100 meters below and grabbed the mirror, which was heavier than it looked. Holding onto it, he kicked off the bottom of the crater to ascend.

It had been a few minutes since he dove in, so he was starting to run out of air, and his body was in pretty bad shape too. He was bleeding from his entire body.

Still, all he could think about was Sophie's safety. If he could take the mirror out, then it would help Sophie's battle. Believing in that, he continued to swim up while carrying the extra load.

He could no longer see, so he did not know how close he was to the surface. The pain assaulting his body had gotten dull too, and the water all around him was dyed red with blood.

But his ears still worked, and he could hear a distant voice.

"Formar! Healing items aren't working, get up here quick!!"

He could hear Cecile's voice get gradually louder. He knew Cecile had been screaming the entire time. She was standing right at the edge of the water, ready to pull him out when he was there.

His body had dissolved so much that his jaw hung loose, and he had pushed his muscles far past their limits. He was starting to fear he would fail, and his body would sink back to the bottom with the mirror.

"We're the guardians of elven royalty. We protect the honor of elves…"

He knew what his duty was. Those words had been repeated to him endlessly since he was small, and knowing the danger Sophie was in reminded him of those words.

His conviction turned into courage, so he raised the heavy mirror and gathered the last remnants of his strength. He was glad that Cecile's loud voice told him where the surface was.

So he aimed at the direction of her voice and threw the mirror with all his strength.

The mirror was slowed down by the drag of the water, but it managed to surface with a splashing sound, and then it fell next to Cecile.

"You did it! The mirror is here! Now you're next, Formar. Come out!!"

Cecile happily picked up the mirror, but then realized Formar was still in the water, so she held her hand out again. Formar was not too far from the surface now.

"Lady Sophiarone…"

But Cecile watched as Formar's body became smaller. He no longer had the strength to swim out of the water.

Having spent the last bit of strength he had to throw the mirror out, his body began to sink again.

"Formaaaaaaaaaaaarrrr!!"

Cecile cried loudly as tears streamed down her cheeks, but she could not reach Formar's hand.

He could no longer feel pain or see anything, but he knew he had accomplished his duty, so he smiled as he sank to the bottom, melting into the water around him.

Eventually his bones and organs became exposed, producing small red explosions underwater, but soon after all the blood was completely dissolved and the water became crystal clear again.

Having given his life to entrust Cecile with the Mirror of Truth, Formar became a Drop of Dew.