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

While Sophie and Luck used the Blessings from their Great Spirits, the ghost Ganira ran towards them. Its legs shattered the rocky island as it ran at a high speed.
Allen's group was many kilometers away, but it got closer in less than 10 seconds.

(So the fight is already starting. Scoring the first hit is important now.)

"So it's coming already! Divine Technique Taijitu!!"

Luck quickly used his own Divine Technique. Allen had told everyone in his party that striking the first hit was important time and time again, so they did not hesitate now.
Sophie and Luck had used their Divine Techniques, so they went on a 6 hour cooldown.
Allen could see a 100 meter long yin yang emblem forming around Luck through Kuwatoro.

(They're all using their Divine Techniques without hesitation. I wonder why Kurena and Dogora struggled so much with their Skills at first.)

Allen remembered Kurena and Dogora struggled more to activate their Skills in the Academy.
Even now that they were in Extra Mode they still struggled with new Skills, though not as much.

'Aauaaaaaahhh!!'
'Aauaaaaaahhh!!'

Ganira's two human heads shouted as it stepped into the emblem.

"Hm? It didn't slow down at all! Evade!!"

Ganira did not pay any attention to the Water, Light, Fire, or Poison Great Spirits, charging straight at Luck and Sophie, so the two jumped to opposite sides to dodge.

"It had some effect, but I guess it's even stronger. Keep your Divine Technique active!"

Sophie seemed to notice herself getting stronger, so she knew Luck's Divine Technique was working. A distance away, Allen also checked their stats on his Grimoire.

(Their stats only went up around 3000, I guess his Skill Level is still too low. Actually it's 1.)

Even the stats of the summons and spirits had increased by 3000.

"Got it!!"

Luck shouted loudly in return. The two were shouldering the future or elves and dark elves.
They were so resolute to win this fight to prove they could win even if the Spirit Gods that accompanied them had stayed in the Spirit Paradise.
If they could not defeat an enemy like this, it would be impossible for them to bridge the rift between their races that existed for so long.

"The enemy seems to favor physical attacks! Lady Sophie, try to stay back!!"

Formar still kept his formal speech towards Sophie, but he realized that now that Ganira was this close, they would need to be more careful of short range attacks.
Thanks to his wealth of combat experience, he could quickly analyze his enemies.
The Fire Great Spirit Kaka moved forward, her body surrounded in flames.

'It seems so. I'll be your frontline then. Try to support me as well as…ghah?!'

Ganira's stats were much higher than those of the Great Spirits. Its enormous claws flung Kaka away before she could finish her sentence.

'Time for healing. And try to not take damage needlessly again, Kaka!'

The Water Great Spirit Tonies reprimanded her to be more careful.

'Shut up! I already know that!!'

Kaka's face was red with rage after being reprimanded by Tonies, who still swung his snail shell cane and healed her. But she did not thank him for it.

(They have to be careful since they can't be manifested for a day if they're defeated.)

If a Spirit's Strength fell to 0, they could not be manifested for a day, so they had to be careful.

"Everyone, I'll use [Spirit King's Blessing] and [Prayer Dance]!"

Sophie did not hold back her Skills, using [Spirit King's Blessing] and [Prayer Dance].
[Spirit King's Blessing] caused a rain of light to fall on everyone, raising their stats.
Leaves of the World Tree also swirled down with Prayer Dance, regenerating Strength and Spiritual Power by 1000 every second.

(I like being able to regenerate Spiritual Power. It helps with Leveling Up my Generation Skill. I was planning on leaving Sophie at the Divine Arena, but maybe I should make her help me with gathering Skill Experience.)

Sophie's Divine Technique was something Allen was nearly drooling over.

"Nice, now I'm even more fired up!!"

Luck also felt the effect of Sophie's Skill and got more excited.

(Though against these opponents regenerating 1% per second isn't good enough. I really want to feel the same way as when I first got the Mana Regeneration Ring.)

After all their adventurers, Allen's group was reaching the limits of 1% regeneration items and Skills. The enemies now had stats higher than 10000, letting them move almost instantly.
Ganira had run many kilometers in less than 10 seconds, and its attacks were just as fast.
Taking 2 hits one after another would kill anyone, and they had no time to step back and regenerate safely now.
While Allen thought of that, Formar held the bow he got from the Spirit God Elize, and took out two Magic Cores from his magic bag.

"Divine Technique Activation, Infinite Quiver…True Strong Bow…True Metallic Arrows…"
TWANG!
"Hmm…"

Formar swiftly chained multiple Skills one after another, turning the Magic Cores into arrows, powering them up, and shooting them.
He hit the human heads, but the arrows just shattered with a metallic sound, not piercing at all.

'Luck! The enemy is too resilient! We'll get obliterated at this rate, let's lower its Endurance!!'

The Poison Great Spirit Mouton shouted that Ganira's Endurance was too high.

"Yeah, I know. Take this! Noxious Tsunami!!"

'Dissolve everything solid! Noxious Tsunami!!'

Luck used the Skill [Noxious Tsunami] on Ganira, and Mouton turned into a large wave.
The brown and yellow wave hit Ganira and sizzled like acid while producing smoke, lowering the enemy's Strength, Endurance, and poisoning them. But Luck was not done yet.

"Acid Tornado!"

A pentagram appeared on the ground in front of Luck, and a saturated yellow tornado appeared and flew at Ganira.

'Aauaaaaaahhh?!'
'Aauaaaaaahhh?!'

More smoke came off Ganira's body while it shouted in anguish.

"Good, that's working too. It'll be all soft and squishy soon. Take another Acid Tornado!"

Luck used another [Acid Tornado].

(Oh? Its Endurance is actually going down. Its physical resistance is also going down. Luck's debuffs are really useful against enemies with a lot of resistances, and his cooldowns are low. I love his range too. He went from an outlier to a key member.)

Allen realized how valuable Luck was going to be for his party. There were many members with buffs, like Rosalina, Kiel, and Sophie, but only Luck had debuffs.
Now that enemies had stats higher than 10000, he could not imagine fighting them without debuffs.

After taking all those hits, Ganira's two heads began moving erratically, like the eyes of a crab.

'Aauaaaaaahhh!!'
'Aauaaaaaahhh!!'

Many bubbles began coming out from its mouth, surrounding its body and blocking Luck's attacks, while also healing back the damage it received.
Purple bubbles also came out, quickly filling the air around it with poison.

"Huh? Bleh!!"

"P-poison?! Lady Sophie, please stand back! Serene Stillness!!"

Some time back Allen had advised Formar to call Sophie by her nickname, since the longer name could add a delay to warnings, which could put her in danger.
It took him some time to get used to that, but now he always called her Lady Sophie.
Formar turned S Rank Magic Stones into arrows, then shot them between the rest of the group.
That was very effective and all the poison bubbles popped.
Meanwhile Sophie used multiple Aromatic Vegetables to heal her poisoning.

(So the enemy has a Skill to heal and poison at the same time. This is going to be a long fight. I wish we had the time for Formar to stack Strong Bow multiple times though.)

Allen was expecting the fight to take a long time.
Formar could use his Skill [True Strong Bow] multiple times to empower his next attack.
But he did not have the time to do that, since he needed to pop the bubbles to avoid the poison.

"Hey, Tonies. Don't fall behind or it'll get us!"

'You're asking for too much, boy. I already have my hands full with healing you!'

Tonies was focusing on healing everyone, but Luck wanted him to get rid of the poison too.
Even Luck could tell what it meant when Formar used Serene Stillness.

2 hours passed after that, and the three continued to fight.

(Alright, I think it's about their time limit.)

Allen checked his watch, knowing it was about time to wrap up the fight.
Then he activated the Awakened Skill [Messenger] from a Bird F card in his Holder.

'It'll be 2 hours soon!'

"Hey, Formar! You still can't stack that thing?!!"

Luck shouted loudly, wondering if the constant attacks over those 2 hours had amounted to something.

"Yeah, I know. True Strong Bow… Divine Technique Lightning Speed!"

Formar's arrow shot lightning fast, piercing through the outer shell of Ganira.
After the fight, Ganira's body lost its balance and fell limp.

"Oh, did we do it?!!"

(Hey, Luck. Don't lower your guard like that.)

'Aauaaaaaahhh!!'
'Aauaaaaaahhh!!'

The instant Luck got distracted, Ganira charged at him at full speed even with its shell cracked and innards spilling. There was not enough time for Luck to dodge.
Using its last remaining vitality, Ganira charged with its claws held up, ready to crush Luck.
Sophie and Formar wanted to help, but their stats were too low and would not be able to do anything. Only Mouton grew in size to cover Luck in an attempt to protect him.
But Allen was faster than Ganira and Mouton, and was already above Ganira with his sword held up.

"Soul Sabeeerrrrrrrrrrrr!!"

'Hegua?!'
'Hegua?!'

Allen's sword cut between Ganira's two heads, cutting its body in two, and striking the rocky island below.

"Hey, the island is falling apart!!"

Cecile shouted enraged, feeling her footing get unstable.