Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~
chapter-469

Allen's group was in the third level of the Gate of Claw.

That was the last one, if they defeated the gatekeeper there they would be done.

The third level was so cold even their breaths seemed to freeze over.

There was nearly 200 degrees of difference compared to the heat of the second level.

It had taken some time to get there, but Allen had learned some things along the way.

Meadeth did not reveal the locations for the next levels, but still spoke a lot as a guide.

He did not follow them to the third level, so Allen asked everything he could before leaving.

[Words used related to the Gates of Trials and Gate of Judgement]

-Gate of Judgement: Gate behind the Dragon King, leads to the Divine Realm

-Gate of Trial: Contains a challenge of 3 levels

-Gatekeeper: Last boss of a Gate of Trial

-Challenger: One going through a Gate of Trial

-Rider: Dragonkin with with the Dragoon Talent

-Helper: Those helping an Unbound and Rider's challenge

-Guide: Megadeth

-Unbound: Someone who opened the Gate of Judgement

Most were self-explanatory, but Unbound seemed to have two meanings.

One was the name given to someone who opened the Gate of Judgement, the other was someone who was accepted by a God.

There was no Rider, so Haku was the only Challenger. Allen and the rest were the Helpers.

It took them 10 days to reach the third level, a month had already passed since new years.

Thump thump thump

Tam-Tam was running over the snow and ice in [Tortoise] Mode, being careful not to slip.

The Magic Cube had 30 slots for Stone Slabs, so Tam-Tam could be Goliath sized, be in a different Mode, equip the mapping device, and have the Vulkan Cannon ready.

It also had lights equipped pointed in all directions, giving more visibility through the snow.

Going through this dungeon would have taken forever without Merle and Tam-Tam.

Clank clank clank

Tam-Tam was pulling a sleigh with Kurena and a Stone D summon, so she could raise her Skill Levels. She and Allen still had room to grow.

Haku had ice resistance now, so he just stayed on top of Tam-Tam and watched Kurena.

Going through there took a long time. The environment constantly inflicted damage on summons, and the snow and ice offered little visibility, making summons unusable.

Larappa made a heating device to keep the rest of the party alive, mounted on Tam-Tam's back..

"Argh, it's so cold! Why didn't you tell Larappa to make it more powerful!!"

Cecile complained through a stuffy nose and a thick fluffy coat. She had complained many times every few hours for the last 10 days.

"Cecile, your snot is freezing over."

Everything froze instantly there, including the Mormo fruit she tried to eat during a break.

(Just give up on that already.)

"How dare you say that to a lady!!"

Whoop

"Ghagh?!"

Cecile got angered by Allen's direct comment, so she punched him in the stomach with all her strength.

'Hahah, you're all still so energetic.'

Rosen was so close to the heating device that his belly was rubbing against it.

（ん？　元気がないのか）

(Hm? He's not feeling well?)

Fabre and Rosen had been unusually quiet since they entered the gate, and did not look very energetic. Allen decided it was time to talk with them.

'Awooo!'

'Awooo!'

'Grrrr!'

Snow leopard and wolf monsters appeared in front of them, and large icicles rained down.

"There's monsters again, everyone get ready to fight."

They spawned often in that area, most of them being B Rank, but Allen was still far stronger.

'Gauuuu!!'

Haku also breathed flames. Those monsters were weak to fire.

"Haku's Level went up again. I guess 60 is the cap for him."

Haku reached Level 60 after they defeated the last monster.

"Huh? Really? Let me see."

Kurena had been fighting on the ground, but she jumped on top of Tam-Tam to look with Allen.

[Species]: White Dragon

[Form]: Infantile

[Rank]: C

[Level]: 60

[Strength]: 3740 + 2000

[Mana]: 2460

[Attack]: 5020

[Endurance]: 3740 + 2000

[Agility]: 5020

[Intelligence]: 1780

[Luck]: 1870

[Special Skills] Flame Breath, Tearing, Dragon Scale (2), Fire Resistance (1), Ice Resistance (1)

Thanks to all the monsters they defeated to get there, Haku had maxed out his Level.

Unlike humans, he gained resistances depending on the environment he was in, so he still looked comfortable there.

Allen also had resistances his Blessings, including poison and breath attack resistances.

Thanks to that he also looked perfectly calm, which annoyed Cecile.

Sadly he did not have resistance to magic attacks.

"Say, what does this mean then?"

"Well, fighting with him will become harder in the future."

Haku was the first true beast to join the party, a dragon no less, but he had already hit his power ceiling. He was still C Rank too, so fighting the Demon King would be hard for him.

While Allen thought of what to do to work around that, Merle noticed something.

"Ah! There's a cave over there!!"

Tam-Tam's vision was shared with Merle, so she could see further than the others.

She had spotted a cave into a mountain, so she turned Tam-Tam back into the Magic Cube and entered the cave with everyone else.

There was a a symbol on the ground, but it did not take them to a different level like the past ones.

"Ohh! It's the door we used to get here!!"

As Kurena exclaimed that, everyone understood what was happening. The gate looked identical to the one in the entrance, and the dragon painted on it was likely the Gatekeeper.

"Get in formation everyone. The Gate of Claw's Gatekeeper will come out."

"Got it."

(Maybe we should get Tam-Tam here too, I think there's enough space.)

The cave was spacious, Allen felt like even Tam-Tam would just barely fit there too.

Even if Tam-Tam could not move much, the Vulkan Cannon could assist from range.

A magic circle appeared in front of them as everyone held their weapons ready.

Pop!

Megadeth came out from it.

'Huh? Wait what? Why are you all pointing your weapons at me?'

"Hm?"

Megadeth seemed confused by their formation, which caused everyone to look at him and Allen.

'Oh, I guess the Dragon King did not tell you about that then. You're just Helpers'

Megadeth seemed to understand what had happened, and his words made Allen understand as well.

"So Haku has to do this alone as the Challenger?"

'Only the Challenger and Rider. Everyone else just paves the road for the dragon who wishes to enter the Divine Realm.'

Megadeth told them that only the Challenger and Rider could proceed.