Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~-Chapter 648: Earth Labyrinth RTA (17) Sophie’s strategy
[99th floor, 2:17 left]
They only had 1 floor left, and it was a pitch black maze.
Without a shovel, it would take them 3 hours to get through.
They had better buffs than before now, but Sophie had a suggestion so everyone turned to her.
"Sophie, what's your strategy then?"
'Sorry everyone, we might adjust our strategy a bit, so try to strengthen the defenses around the middle. Admiral Galara and the dwarves, you focus on destroying all the traps. Temi, just keep giving us directions, don't worry about interrupting the discussion.'
Since Allen's Intelligence was so high, he could do multiple things at the same time.
"Yeah, right away!!"
"Alright, got it."
There was no need to sit still while they talked, so Allen put everyone in motion.
They had no shovel, so their only way to get down was through the stairs.
The Golem Pilots had access to radars and scopes, so they could fire at targets kilometers away.
There were mimic enemies hidden on the floor too, so Cecile and the other mages would burn the floor. Haku also used his breath to leave the floor red hot.
"Well, I've just been thinking that we might run out of time before we get there."
"Are you still upset about the shovel breaking?"
"There's that too, but I believe sending my Great Spirits ahead of us might work."
In a way, she was feeling responsible for the shovel that broke, so she wanted to make up for it.
Usually Cecile would step in to say something, but she knew they had no time so she just sat in silence so Allen could reply first, while focusing on defeating enemies herself..
(Hmm, but we have Temi so we already know the way. But she wants to send them anyway…ahh, to clear the path.)
Allen's mind was working as fast as it could and soon understood what Sophie wanted to accomplish. Before accepting or rejecting the idea though, he had to consider their situation.
[Things that waste time in the Earth Labyrinth]
1) Complex mazes
2) Many traps in mid-air
3) Ghosts and lumps of earth in the way
Thanks to Temi, (1) was no longer an issue since they knew the way.
(2) and (3) still took some time though, since they had to do that from range to not get caught up. Even with all their buffs, that would sometimes slow them down.
There were many Archangel (Demon General) Rank ghosts and lumps of earth though, and they could be dangerous for the rear lines if they got too close.
Other than Tam-Tam, the golems did not have enough power to instantly kill those enemies.
To avoid any surprise attacks, the mages and Tam-Tam would use their magic to finish them off.
The enemies of the 99th floor were really powerful.
But if someone went ahead to clear the path, then (2) and (3) would not be an issue.
"So you want the Great Spirits to clear the path from ghosts and traps."
"Yes. Spirit Masters can maintain a mental connection with Great Spirits even at large distances, so I believe it could work."
(I see, they can fly and have stats higher than S Rank summons after all.)
After Allen under Possession Combination and Merus after being powered up from the Generation Skill, Great Spirits were the strongest units.
They could easily go ahead and clear the path of enemies and traps.
Allen felt like it was a good idea, and anything that could speed them up was necessary since it was a race against time now, and Merus could no longer be summoned since the 80th floor.
He was about to accept that strategy when Luck butted into the conversation.
"Wait, you're letting Sophie's 4 Great Spirits go? Then my Great Spirits will help too."
"Luck…"
Sophie's Great Spirits alone might have trouble clearing off everything, so Luck offered to send his as well, which left a strong impression in Sophie.
"Rosenheim's strongest, we'll be in your care then."
"Hmph, I'm only doing this because Lady Sophiarone is here. Also could you stop calling me that? I don't want it to become common."
Gatoruga was the guardian of the elven princess, so he was keeping his Great Spirit to protect her.
"Alright, that sounds like a plan then. Everyone, we don't have much time left. Let's get moving."
After listening to Sophie, they continued following Temi's directions and moving forward.
Thanks to Sophie's Divine Technique [Spring of Life] she and Luck could manifest all 4 Great Spirits.
"Let's do it!"
"Yes."
Following Luck's lead, both of them channeled their Spiritual Power until it began to overflow.
Then in response, the Great Spirits began to manifest themselves.
'I can't believe you're overworking an old man like this.'
'Tonies! Don't go complaining like that now.'
'You're lively as always, Kaka…'
'I'd be worried if our healer is taken down. I'll go with you.'
'I appreciate that.'
*Hop*
Mouton was the only Great Spirit that could not fly, so he jumped off Luck's head and went to Tonies' head. The other Great Spirits surrounded Tonies too, protecting him.
When Tonies grumbled a bit, the Fire Great Spirit Kaka reprimanded him.
Then the 8 Great Spirits began moving faster and went ahead of Allen's group.
"Temi, we'll be counting on you to guide them."
"Yes, they should go left next. I'll do my best."
Allen watched with Kuwatoro's Thousand-mile Eyes as the 8 Great Spirits turned left.
"And after…"
"Go straight ahead in the 3 way crossing."
Temi was already giving the next indications.
"..."
"Right."
"..."
Sophie blinked a few times and then began focusing, as Allen told Temi to give directions without stopping. Luck was quickly lost though.
"Mouton, protect everyone…and then go right from us…"
Sophie had once explained that Spirit Masters could sense what their spirits did, though not to the same extent as summoners. But she could tell that they were all being attacked violently.
Luck scowled a bit as he gave orders to Mouton, telling him to protect the other Great Spirits.
It seemed like his connection went quite deep, and both of them were hardly present in Allen's side, only picking up on the direction he gave them.
(We're going pretty fast now. Though well, buffs apply to Great Spirits too after all.)
Great Spirits had stats around 40000 and 60000, but with Rosalina and Sophie's buffs they went over 100000. Their field of view was also nearly 360 degrees, so they could see enemies much more easily.
Spirits were higher beings who surpassed human knowledge and thought.
But the further away the Great Spirits went, the more Sophie and Luck got exhausted.
Sophie began to tremble, and large beads of sweat formed on Luck's face.
(I guess they're under a lot of pressure even with Spring of Life active.)
Sophie's eyelids kept snapping open and shut, while sighing loudly.
"Incredible! There's no enemies at all!"
There were the remains of burnt balloons scattered on the floor.
There were many resilient lumps of earth too, who had been burnt together with the adamantite floor around them, or their legs had dissolved and they just waved their arms helplessly.
The fire attacks had been done by Kaka, and the others had been dissolved by Mouton.
"They're almost as powerful as Grown summons…"
"Well, I also have the Strengthening Skill, so they're not quite there yet."
Cecile was trying to compare the Great Spirits to Allen's summons with Growth Level 9.
They were not quite there compared to S Rank summons, but they were still incredibly powerful.
-Water Great Spirit Tonies' stats (with buffs)
[Strength] 169845
[Mana] 131950
[Spiritual Power] 131950
[Attack] 223600
[Endurance] 157041
[Agility] 192400
[Intelligence] 252330
[Luck] 151450
"H-hey, could you go a bit faster? We're falling behind."
"I'm sorry."
'Everyone, we're getting too far from the Great Spirits. Go faster!!'
"Got it. Tam-Tam! Fly there!!"
'Understood. Accelerating!!'
Allen apologized to Luck and then gave orders to everyone.
(I guess they're more connected to spirits through Mana and Spiritual Power, unlike summons.)
Great Spirits were manifested through Mana or Spiritual Power, and some spirits used upwards of 100000. But that also showed how powerful they could be.
But there was a limit to how far that Mana and Spiritual Power could go.
[Distance limits between spirits and spirit masters]
-Young Spirits 1 kilometer
-Spirits 10 kilometers
-Great Spirits 100 kilometers
After a certain distance, the spirit master would lose connection.
They were still within a safe distance, but Luck was right, and it was better if they caught up.
Tam-Tam activated all his power and accelerated.
"Hey Allen… Tam-Tam's Mana won't last!"
Merle then spoke to Allen. Tam-Tam's Mana meter was decreasing at an alarming rate.
"Sorry for that. Cecile, you should replenish your Mana too."
Allen took out Mana Recovery Potions from his magic bag.
"Okay. We'll use all of them though."
"Go ahead. We need to get through this floor after all."
Allen gave Cecile and the other mages the Mana Recovery Potions he had obtained.
Soon Sophie and Luck's Mana started to recover, and Tam-Tam could go faster.
*Spark spark*
"Hey, there's something sparking over there."
Galara raised his voice.
They got there at an incredible speed and saw that there were pieces of broken balloons imbued with lightning on the ground. It was an attack from the Lightning Great Spirit Jin.
The Great Spirit had passed through there to clear the way from traps and enemies.
'Kyuru kyuru.'
But then a snake ghost with its lower body burnt down raised its head.
Most ghosts had been neutralized, but this one could still fight.
"There's some ghosts that can still move. Keep your guard up!"
"I'm so busy already healing everyone, but got it! Flame Lance!!"
Cecile turned the ghost to ash.
"P-please take care of them… We can't kill everything."
Sophie and Luck were doing the best they could.
(There's too many things going on at once. I guess we can't do this too often seeing how exhausted Sophie gets. It does help for emergencies though.)
They were going through the maze much faster than any previous time. And before long, they had reached the end of the 99th floor.
[Floor 99, 0:38 left]
(We got through a maze in an hour and a half.)
Thanks to Sophie, Luck, and the Great Spirits, they had gone through the 99th floor in half of the time they usually would have.
"There's a dead end past this door. I also feel an evil presence there. Everyone be careful…"
Temi pointed at the door and said there was a dead end past it.
She was finally done guiding them through the maze, and looked exhausted.
They had broken the record of the Earth Labyrinth.
'Hahh…hahh… I want to go back to the Spirit Paradise, I can't believe you'd overwork an old man like me.'
Tonies was holding his stomach and taking deep breaths.
He was already hallucinating about the lush forests of the Spirit Paradise.
'Hey, Tonies. Put yourself together!'
Kaka was still brimming with energy, but Tonies just ignored her.
"The last door…"
"Yeah, a dragon door. We need a key, and something seems to be waiting for us inside. I'll open it, so get ready."
The end of the Earth Labyrinth was an enormous door.
A large dragon in pain was drawn on the door.
They had not needed a key on the 90th floor or the other ones, so they used the last [Key] on the last floor.
Allen used it, and the key instantly shattered into bubbles of light.
Cecile commented "I knew it'd break", but Allen was focusing on the door and did not hear her.
There was a large room past the doors, with an enormous statue of a dragon in the center.
Allen's group kept their formation as they entered, and then the statue's eyes started glowing red and a voice came from its immobile mouth.
'Heheheh, so someone finally got here. Adventurers, my name is Dragon God Magra. I've been waiting 10000 years for this day. Hm? There's two dragons? I never heard of a party with two leaders though.'
The dragon statue introduced itself as the Dragon God Magra, and continued talking.
Magra seemed surprised to see Haku and Matildora, as they were both dragons.
Then the statue's neck started making a cracking sound as it rotated.
The enemy standing in front of them at the end of the Earth Labyrinth's 99th floor was the Dragon God Magra.
"
