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

3 days passed since they departed for the Beast God Giran's Shrine.

"Hmm, I'm almost out of the Spirit Stones Shea gathered…"

"I'm sorry I didn't get enough."

Shea had not expected Allen would go through 10000 Spirit Stones a day.

"I'll have to go grab the ones from Abigayle too then. Hm? What's that? There's a weird pattern."

Allen noticed something strange on the terrain ahead,

While the ground was dried and cracked, it looked strange, like waves.

Almost like it was supposed to be a vast lake that had dried over.

(I guess that's it then? This used to be a lake or something like that?)

Allen had seen the bottom of a dried lake in his past life.

"Luvanka."

'What is it?'

Allen spoke to Luvanka who was inside a card.

"Was the Paradise of Primordial Beasts more plentiful in the past? Like was there a big lake here before?"

Allen's group was traveling faster than a jumbo jet, but the dried lake was enormous.

'Hmm, this used to be the Fish God's Shrine. I believe the Sacred Fish also left that spot.'

(So I guess my theory was correct then.)

"Hm? Ah, is that why the God of Water Aqua is looking over the mermen then?"

Allen continued building theories on what he heard.

(So there's no Bird or Fish God for now. I guess there's a limit to how many gods can exist.)

Allen had noticed something, beastmen had Beast Gods, dragonkin had a Dragon God, who was trapped inside the Earth Labyrinth. Elves had Spirit Gods and the Great Spirit God.

And then it turned out the God of Magic had also created the dwarves.

So why was there no Fish God for mermen?

Apparently there had been one in the past, but now the God of Water had taken over.

"How many Shrines are there on the Paradise of Primordial Beasts?"

'There's 22…no, 20 territories I think. Though only half are populated at this time.'

(Why would he sound so unsure? Did someone else tell him that?)

Allen felt like it was strange for Luvanka to have to correct himself like that.

There was no reason why he would make a mistake like that between those two numbers.

"I guess it makes sense for so many Gods to be here, considering how big this place is."

Sophie said that while thinking back to the Spirit Paradise.

There had been a Great Spirit God there, and recently Rosen and Fabre had become Spirit Gods as well. There were also many Spirit Kings, who were like demigods.

The Paradise of Primordial Beasts was occupied by 10 Gods, with space for 20.

"So was Albahar Village also part of some Gods' territory?"

'I believe that area belongs to the God of Mountains.'

That was a God Allen had not heard about before.

"I see."

(So that's why we have to travel like idiots, we have to be careful with the territories.)

"Allen, if you're thinking of something at least tell us too."

Cecile was getting impatient and began demanding Allen tell them his thoughts.

"Oh, I was just wondering why we had to keep changing directions to avoid certain areas. But if there's 20 Shrines here, it makes sense, and also explains the size of this place."

The Paradise of Primordial Beasts was many times bigger than Earth's surface, but if it was split into 20 it made sense, as each God would want to have a continent to reign over.

"The Beast Gods and Mythical Beasts are looking after the areas with no Gods too."

"I see, and that's because the Beast God Garm is still the owner of the entire place. But we have to travel while being careful of the territories which is slowing us down. And so?"

Sophie was also starting to catch up with Allen's ideas. Understanding why the trip was taking so long.

Allen stared into the distance, his face stoic.

He usually only got excited when he gained information that helped him.

Allen opened the latter half of his Griomoire, where he had written many pages of notes.

On a page there, he began writing down all the new information with a grin.

"Hmhm, and you're checking why Haku won't become a Dragon God? How is that related?"

Allen had written the following.

[Plan to turn Haku into a Dragon God]

-Digragni became a God

-Fabre became a God

-Haku still hasn't become a Dragon God even after defeating Demigod Rank ghosts

[Reasons why Haky hasn't become a Dragon God (theory)]

-He's still too young

-He has no followers

Shea peeked into Allen's notes, and became more confused just like Cecile.

Allen wrote down more notes.

[Reasons why Haky hasn't become a Dragon God (new theory)]

(1) There's a limit of 255 Gods

(2) There can only be 1 God of a given type

(3) Once a God becomes a Higher God, they can have similar Gods under them

(4) The Dragon God Magra is still occupying a God's seat

"I see, so that's what you're looking at. The Fish God is gone because of (1), (2) is because the Earth God exists, and why the God of Mountains isn't here."

"That's it. I've never heard of the God of Mountains before. It was probably someone who was here way back in the past, but now the Earth God took that place."

Sophie began to understand Allen's notes, but Cecile still had doubts.

"But Digragni became a God even though the God of Magic Isiris isn't a Higher God, didn't he?"

"That's because Elmea considers Digragni and Isiris as Gods of different types. Dungeons and magic are very different topics after all. Maybe that's more convenient though."

Allen did not mention who it would be convenient for though.

"I guess it all comes down to whether the God of Creation Elmea desires someone to become a God. Sometimes there's more than 255 Gods after all…"

"Or maybe there aren't even 255, maybe some spots are empty until a suitable God appears."

Shea was also catching on to Allen's ideas.

"I see! Then this is for the case we find the Dragon God Magra and make him a summon!"

Sophie's voice became louder as she pieced together Allen's theory.

S Rank summons were not Gods, so if the Dragon God became one, the spot of Dragon God would be left open, but there was someone with a Divine Artifact who could fill the spot.

"Yes, Sophie. If the spot of Dragon God is open, then Haku could fill it. I'm really looking forward to seeing if that happens or not though."

Allen had been trying to figure out why Haku was still not a God, and he had a good theory now.

If it was correct, then his party would become stronger, which filled him with excitement.

His usual grin was starting to appear again, and Shea could only sigh.

'...'

Allen's vision was Shared with Luvanka, so he was also looking at the Grimoire.

"Luvanka, is something wrong?"

'I just thought this was interesting. But I see, so you're the analytical type.'

Whenever Allen talked to his summons like that, to others it looked like he was talking to himself. It was a strange sight, and usually Allen only did it with his thoughts so they would not get confused. At least now they knew he was talking to Luvanka though.

"Your voice sounds a bit different, did you finally start understanding me?"

'I just feel like you have an interesting mind, and I got a peek at your thoughts, that's all…'

Somehow Luvanka seemed to be hesitating to go into more detail.

"Is there something you'd like me to take a look at then?"

'...That's not it. I haven't been here for too long in the first place. I spent most of my days as a Sacred Beast in the human realm.'

"And?"

'I'm just saying that there's a lot I don't know about this place.'

Luvanka had noticed through Allen's thoughts that he believed Luvanka was a key piece to going through the Paradise of Primordial Beasts.

And whatever Luvanka wanted to talk about, was something he had mostly heard from the Beast Gods Garm and Giran, but he did not know much more.

(That's a really long preamble. Maybe he's not sure it's something worth looking into.)

"I won't know if it helps or not until I've heard what it is. Seeing what everyone says is important to get through new areas after all. Tell me everything you know."

Talking to all NPCs in a village was essential to going through games, like listening to a couple on a beach to know who has a boat to traverse the world.

When doing RTA runs thousands of times one knew where to go, but this was Allen's first time coming to the Paradise of Primordial Beasts.

'There's a reason why this Temple is so big. Or rather, it had to be this big.'

"A reason for the Paradise of Primordial Beasts' size?"

'It's also why there's so many Shrines here. This vast land used to be the original divine realm.'

Allen had not expected that, so his eyes went wide. Cecile saw that and got impatient.

"Allen, at least let us hear too!"

"Luvanka just said that the Paradise of Primordial Beasts was the original divine realm."

"What does that mean? I never heard about that in the creation history."

They had learned about Elmea's creation history in the Academy.

Luvanka continued talking to Allen, while he repeated what he said to the rest of the group.

'It used to be the divine realm. There was a conflict in the distant past, which led to the current structure of the divine realm. It was before I was born. But that's why the Ancient God is still here.'

"Merus never mentioned that before. So all the Gods here are Ancient Gods?"

'That's not quite it. It's a story from a distant past. There was a conflict 1000000 years ago, many Gods were vanquished, and Lord Garm might be the only surviving Ancient God.'

That sounded like the history of the divine realm.

"I never heard of that before either, are you sure it's true? Rosen never mentioned it…"

Luvanka's story was so sudden that it was hard to believe.

It was even more shocking than discovering that the Earth moved around the sun in a world that believed in the Ptolemaic theory.

After all, everyone was told that Elmea had created both the human and divine realm.

"I'll have to double check with Merus. He's in the middle of a fight so I can't ask right now though."

"What? Is he alright?"

"I'm controlling the summons there, and hmm…it's over."

'Level Up Log: 235 -» 236'

An entry written in silver words appeared on the Grimoire's black cover.

While they were talking, the group in the Earth Labyrinth were fighting a Demigod Rank ghost, and had just won. This was the 6th Level Allen gained since arriving at the Paradise of Primordial Beasts.

"Luvanka, if you can think of anything else please tell me."

'Okay.'

"Hm? The terrain is starting to change."

The dry lake seemed to end, leading into a grassy plain.

A wolf Sacred Beast raised its head and howled loudly.

'Awoooooooooooooooooooo!!

Other wolves a few dozen kilometers away howled in return.

'Awoooooooooooooooooooo!!

'Awoooooooooooooooooooo!!

It sounded like they were passing along a message.

"I guess they're announcing our arrival."

"I just hope they actually receive us."

Shea's body was trembling with nervousness after their earlier conversation.

They felt like they had started unraveling the history of Gods as they entered the Shrine of the Beast God Giran.

"