Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~ Chapter 362

“I can see you chose younger elves, thank you for your consideration.”

Allen expressed his gratitude to King Arbus for selecting younger dark elves to join his army.

“Interesting, you chose to thank me. You're more thoughtful than the elves.”

King Arbus answered slightly awkwardly, he had not expected Allen to thank him for that.
Having a thousand younger dark elves, with little combat experience compared to the elves, meant that Allen's Army would need to train them all themselves.
But if King Arbus had sent all of his best men, that could have weakened his village's defenses.

Then why was Allen thanking him? That was simple, younger dark elves had less aversion towards elves.
If a thousand dark elves of the same age and experience as the elves joined, that could easily lead to a lot of internal rivalry and conflicts.
It was hard to have two races that had been enemies for millenia to live on the same island.

Younger elves might lack combat experience, but they also had not been exposed to the conflict as much, so their behavior was still rather malleable.
There were enough merits to cover for the demerits.

“Glad to have you onboard too, Lucktod.”

Saying that, Allen also greeted King Arbus' son, who he had a staring contest with earlier.
While he was a prince, he was going to join Allen's Army as Allen's underling, so Allen addressed him with less formality.

“Ah, yeah…”

Lucktod answered with a hesitating nod.
Apparently he did not necessarily hate Allen.
He was simply nervous.

'Luck, I'll be with you, so don't stress about things.'

(Oh, Fabre just spoke. So that's what he sounds like.)

Fabre's personality seemed to be almost like a doting older sister's.

“M-mhm, I know. Thanks.”

The Spirit King Fabre who looked like a black weasel looked up and encouraged Lucktod.
The female dark elf, presumably the queen, looked slightly worried as she gave Lucktod a bag with his things.
Allen felt like he might be a bit too young to be sent off alone like that so he asked how old Lucktod was, and was told he was 15, the same age as Allen.

After that, Allen took all the dark elves that were joining Allen's Army to Heavy User Island.

This was still their first day in Heavy User Island, but there were already two thousand beastmen, two thousand elves, and a thousand dark elves. Those were all the members Allen was thinking of starting with in his army, so he decided to speak to them.

Talking to five thousand people at once was a bit too much, so instead he gathered all the commanding officers that were in charge of at least a hundred men.

He requested a meeting room, and the beastmen and elves quickly erected a building.
That building was also going to become the house where the village's chief would live.

Allen sat down on a chair, then Sophie and Shea sat on both of his sides.
Further to the side were Lucktod and the rest of Allen's party.
They were trying to keep this like a proper army, so everyone's position in the chain of command was important.

“Oh I'll just have some fruit juice, please.”

A female elf soldier came to serve liquor, but Allen requested juice instead.
Allen usually never drank alcohol.
More food was served and everyone ate as the meeting started.

“I think everyone's here now. If you could start now, Allen.”

Shea verified that everyone was present in the room.
There were nearly a hundred people in the room, all with authority over at least a hundred foot soldiers.
All the generals and Allen's party was there too, creating a decently sized crowd.
Those who could not sit on the closest circle around Allen lined up behind the rest.

Everyone fell silent and looked at Allen, waiting for him to start talking.
They all knew Allen was the one with the most authority in the army.

It was also known that he was the first S Rank Adventurer in two decades, had cleared the S Rank Dungeon, had fended off the Demon King's Army attacking Rosenheim the year before, and had solved the crisis with Pagan Worshippers.

His achievements were so important that no one seemed to care that he was a commoner from the outskirts of the small Latash Kingdom.

The elves had also seen him fighting in Rosenheim, and the beastmen had witnessed the fight against Pagan Worshippers.
Those elves and beastmen generals and commanders straightened their backs as they looked at Allen.

“Thank you everyone for joining us here. I'm Allen, the leader of this army. I realize our goals might not always align, we're an amalgamation of multiple races and from various social ranks, but I believe we can defeat the Demon King's Army if we work together.”

“Hmm, I don't think social standing should really have much weight though?”

Shea believed there was no need to mention that.

“Well, I guess so. Still, I won't ask you to change your ideals or worldviews, your beliefs are only yours, and as such are important for your identity.”

There was a reason why Allen wanted dark elves and beastmen in his army.
He would explain a little about that now.

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Protecting the world from the Demon King's Army was an honorable and courageous reason, but the Continents' Alliance already had formed an army to fight before.

The main difference was the power Allen brought to the table now.
The beastmen and dark elves had seen how easily Allen and his party defeated Demon Generals.
In a way, this was the best way to achieve victory.

But there was an even more important reason.
Giamut's Emperor had said something before, which prompted all of this.

'The Talent Change Dungeon should be used by the Five Continents' Alliance first. We have to properly manage this miracle granted to us by Elmea.'

Those were his words during the meeting before the Holy Land's distress signal rang.

The Talent Change System had only been introduced after the Divine Artifact was stolen, to grant people more strength. But there was only one such dungeon, so they had to decide who got to use it first.

Everyone agreed that the countries fighting against the Demon King's Army the most would have priority.

Otherwise, as Giamut's Emperor argued, Elmea would not have placed the Talent Change Dungeon in the Academy City managed by the Five Continents' Alliance.

By using the dungeon, it was possible to gain one Talent Star.
Hardly anyone was born with a 3 Star Talent, no matter the country, and 2 Star Talents were on par with Sword Saints for example.

At the same time, countries with access to the Talent Change Dungeon would amass more power, while those who could not use it would weaken.
That could lead to a huge gap in strength between the elves and dark elves, for example.

That was another reason why joining Allen's Army to fight the Demon King's Army had benefits.
Anyone who joined would easily get access to the Talent Change Dungeon.

Allen had already placed a request with Rosenheim's Queen and the Adventurer's Guild to let anyone in his army use the dungeon.
Managing the dungeon was ultimately the guild's duty, and Allen had contacts with their higher-ups.
Since they were friends with Allen, they would easily allow him and five thousand people to use the dungeon without restrictions.
He was also seeing if he could get the dark elves, who had little diplomatic contact with other countries, to also enter the S Rank Dungeon in Baukis.

(I also need to worry about that meeting with the Five Continents' Alliance.)

The Demon King's Army attack had largely been fended off now, so Allen was invited to join a meeting of the Five Continents' Alliance.
Rosenheim's Queen also told him they were expecting Allen to give a speech there.

“Alright, so we have three immediate goals now. Developing the island, strengthening the army, and clearing the S Rank Dungeon.”

Allen spoke of the army's current objectives.

The elves and beastmen had done most of the work today, but considering the relatively small size of the island, there was little reason for all five thousand of them to work on building it.
The dark elves were still pretty inexperienced, so many of them would not be suited to enter the S Rank Dungeon either.

Allen had planned on dividing the five thousand members into various groups, and cycle their duties, sometimes working in building the island, other times training and getting stronger.

Those who had not yet hit their level and stat caps were not suited to enter the S Rank Dungeon yet.
They would need to work on getting stronger, leveling up and gaining Skill Experience in the five A Rank Dungeons, before they headed to the S Rank Dungeon.
Those who had reached their limits would go conduct a Talent Change.

Once they had finished their Talent Change and gained an entry pass for the S Rank Dungeon, they would go gain experience there.

Allen's plan involved having everyone in his army undergo the Talent Change within a year, reaching their Level and Skill Level caps, and having them wear two rings that increased their stats by 5000.

As he explained everything, Allen did not use the allegory of God's Trials for leveling up.
He spoke while using the words he was accustomed to.

“I guess that means I'll be going to the S Rank Dungeon then.”

“Yes, Dogora. You, Kurena, Kiel, and Merus will go there. Once I settle some things I'll join you too.”

Now that Dogora had entered Extra Mode, he would go to the S Rank Dungeon together with the other core party members.
Namely Kurena, Kiel, and Merus.
Their objective was to level up their Skills, getting rings to boost stats by 5000, and gathering Stone Slabs for the Hihiirokane Golem.

There was little point in having Dogora standing by on the island.
Allen wanted him to figure out the limits of Extra Mode.

Cecile, Sophie, and Formar, would stay with Allen, overseeing the construction of the island and overseeing Allen's Army.

Shea was also going to the dungeons to reach her Skill Level cap.
When she joined Allen's Abandoned Gamers party, her Level was already 60, but her Skill Levels had not been maxed out yet.
They were all Level 4 or 5.
That was not enough to send her to the S Rank Dungeon yet, so she would train in the other dungeons.

“I see. I believe those are good enough objectives for the time being. So, does anyone have any questions?”

Shea took care of closing the meeting.
Having her and her expertise commanding an army was a great help.

“Umm, I don't know if this is the place to say this. But I wish Lord Lucktod could be admitted into your party as well, Master Allen.”

A dark elf general, who was acting as Lucktod's guardian, asked if the prince could join Allen's Abandoned Gamers party.

Chapter end