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

Chapter 590: Albahar's trial (2)

Shea stepped out from within the wall without falling to the ground.

"Hmph."

She started jumping in place for a bit, making sure her body was in good shape, then took a fighting stance. Albahar watched that, and seemed to think of something.

'Now that I think about it, there's something you never told me, my descendant.'

"What are you talking about?"

(Huh? They're going to talk again? I wish they'd just fight though.)

Allen was worried the buffs they put on Shea would wear off.

'Why did you return to the Paradise of Primordial Beasts, and why do you want more power?'

"Return? I don't consider this my home. But I have a reason to gain power…or rather, two reasons."

'Mind telling me those two reasons then?'

"I'll become the first beastman emperor."

'Oh, so you intend to rule over the many beastman countries?'

"And over birdmen and dragonkin as well."

There were around 30 countries in the Garresia Continent, which Shea wanted to rule over.

'You'll have to at least win each Martial Arts Display for that.'

"Yes, and that's why I want power… I knew, it, that tournament's rules were made by-"

'It wasn't me.'

"Then who?"

'I told you it wasn't me.'

Albahar's voice became more stern, telling her to nor pry further.

Shea tried to keep asking, but quickly gave up.

(The Martial Arts Display does have some muscle brained rules after all. Though well, at least it's stopping beastmen from actually warring with each other.)

All beastman countries had their Martial Arts Display, which was conducted with inviolable rules.

[Rules of the Beast King Martial Arts Display]

-Each country had to conduct at least 1 Martial Arts Display every year

-Participants from other countries can't be turned away

-If a different country wins, they get to claim a portion of the host country

(I think Bek always won, until someone from a different country took his place.)

Allen had heard about that around a year ago, before heading to Prostia.

Shea's older brother Bek would always win Albahar's Martial Arts Display, until someone named Gil came from the neighboring country of Grysen.

After that Bek put his life on the line to protect Albahar's territory.

(And I think Zew married Gil's little sister?)

Political matters were always confusing for Allen. In the end Bek had killed Gil, which raised tensions between Grysen and Albahar, and to appease that Grysen gave their princess to Zew in marriage. And apparently it was her who pushed Zew to the S Rank Dungeon.

"Is that all then?"

'Hmm, you mentioned you had two reasons though?'

Albahar prodded her to keep talking.

"My brother Bek was humiliated and killed. I'll take revenge and restore his honor from the Demon King!!"

Shea had dreamed of becoming the first beastman emperor since she was little.

That dream kept living on, though now she had one more reason to be stronger.

She wanted to avenge Bek, who had been killed by the Demon King.

'Lord Garm told me Bek was a very capable beastman.'

"So you know what happened to him? Tell me what you know!'

'You want power, you said. If you're strong you'll get it, if you're weak you'll lose it.'

He would not answer Shea, but she might find more answers if she could keep going.

"Strength is everything, and I'll win! Inexhaustible Beast King!!"

Shea's body began to glow and her movements seemed to have trails behind them.

"That looks like a new Skill."

"Seems so, Cecile. And I can see it's already Level 5 so I guess she must've been using it a lot."

(It seems like it's a really useful Skill.)

Allen watched attentively to study Shea's new Skill, which she had gained when her Talent Level reached Level 8.

'Come then!'

"I'll do just that!!"

Shea dashed forward just like before, closing in on Albahar in an instant, who responded by swinging his front legs wildly, though he was slowly being pushed back.

He tried to retaliate like earlier, but Shea anticipated it now, forcing him to stand on his hind legs.

"True Clobber!!"

Shea's right fist dug into Albahar's stomach.

'Guh!!'

Shea's knuckle guards dug deep into Albahar's stomach with a dull sound, and his face contorted in pain. He could not ignore her powerful punches.

(Huh? She's not stepping back.)

Allen noticed Shea's fighting style was different. Usually she would perform quick hits before jumping back to safety, not letting the enemy counterattack.

That fighting style emphasized Shea's high Agility and low Endurance, but it was different now.

There was barely an instant before Allen noticed why it was different now.

"True Swift Death Strike!!"

"True Clobber!!"

"True Hell Hit!!"

"True Clobber!!"

"True Demolishing Punch!!"

She unleashed a long sequence of hits, weaved with True Clobber.

[Combo!! Shea successfully performed a combo!!]

[Combo 2!! Shea successfully performed a combo!!]

[Combo 3!! Shea successfully performed a combo!!]

'Ghah?!'

Albahar shouted painfully, spitting blood.

The hits had sent shockwaves running through his body and flipped his body back.

"She did it!!"

Cecile shouted, convinced that Shea had already won.

(Stop jinxing it!)

Cecile's excited words bothered Allen.

Albahar's body stopped falling back, as he braced with both hands, and then swung his body forward. Shea could not move out on time, so instead she took a defensive stance.

"Guh?!"

It was like she was holding a crumbling building from falling on her.

'Graaaaaahhhh!!'

Albahar put more force into his body, trying to crush Shea.

"Hnghhhhh!!"

Shea's body was being buried into the floor as she tried to stop that heavy weight.

"Princess Shea!!"

General Hobah, one of the Ten Heroic Beasts, shouted seeing that.

"I have to win. I have to win no matter what! Beast Mode! Grahhhhhhhhhhhh!!"

'Hm? Ghah?! But that won't be enough!!'

Shea's body became more animalistic, growing into a 2 meter tall tiger.

She pushed Albahar back and began attacking his stomach again.

But her Skills still did not deal a lot of damage, so their fight continued for an hour.

By the end Albahar's bloodied body lay on the floor, while Shea breathed heavily.

"I won…I won…"

(I see, so that's how it works.)

Allen was also done analyzing her new Skill.

-Effects of Inexhaustible Beast God

[Skill User] Shea

[Skill Type] Buff

[Mana Cost (Spiritual)] All Mana (can also be used with Spiritual Power)

[Appearance] Shea's body begins to glow and trails appear as she performs Combos

[Effects] Allows sequencing Skills into Combos, Skills used in Combos have no cooldown, all Skills go into cooldown if she stops a Combo

[Range] None

[Level Scaling (Effect)] Each Skill Level allows more Skills to be used in Combos, at Skill Level 5, a total of 6 Skills can be used in one Combo

[Level Scaling (Range)] None

[Duration (Seconds)] Mana spent / 10

[Cast Time] 10 seconds

[Cooldown] 1 day

[Skill Experience Required]

10000 needed for Skill Level 2

100000 needed for Skill Level 3

1000000 needed for Skill Level 4

10000000 needed for Skill Level 5

100000000 needed for Skill Level 6

[Others] The following actions cancel out Combos:

The target dodges

The target blocks

The target lands a counterattack

Allen wrote down everything he learned.

(I guess that's about it. Thankfully she Leveled it up a lot thanks to hunting those ghosts. But now there's yet another party member who's playing a different game. I guess Shea is the protagonist of a fighting game. Hopefully she can learn an infinite combo soon.)

Allen was slightly taken aback by seeing someone who seemed to be playing a different game than him. There were many genres of games that he liked in his past life, but fighting games had never been his forte and he was bad at them.

But he remembered seeing big [Combo!!] captions in those games.

Albahar slowly stood up, his face showing he no longer wanted to fight and admitted defeat.

'I knew you could do it, my descendant. I'll give you a new power.'

"Alright!"

Shea raised her arms in celebration of her victory.

Meanwhile Allen kept thinking about the fight.

"