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

Chapter 393: Prostia Empire

Allen's group had already transformed into mermen when they began climbing the ladders and boarding the enormous ship.

Kurena and the remainder of the party watched from the shore until they vanished in the horizon, and then Merus teleported them back to the S Rank Dungeon.

"The interior looks normal too."

They were led to a rather luxurious room, where Allen sat down and surveyed his surroundings.

Just like the outside of the ship, the interior looked like that of a regular ship.

"This is so cool! Will this really go underwater?!"

"Yes, at least that's what they said."

Usually Kurena and Merle were the easiest to get excited in the party, but now there was only Luck, who was staring at the thick windows on the wall.

The windows were made of glass, so the outside was clearly visible.

(Hmm, I guess walking around the ship is the thing to do now.)

Allen had flown in magic ships before, but this was his first time in such a large maritime ship.

In his past life, he would have only boarded such a ship to travel to a different continent, or when beginning a new adventure.

He felt like every time that happened, he was allowed to walk inside the ship too.

The rest of the group also looked around the room, while Shea just looked out of the window to the spot Dogora stood when they left.

"I'm sure they'll do just fine."

Cecile decided to try comforting Shea.

"You're right. Dogora is there, so it should be fine."

Shea said that it would be alright since Dogora was there.

Allen had split the party in two so that Allen's Army could continue growing stronger.

It had been half a year since Allen's Army was created, and they had been focusing on clearing the A Rank Dungeons first.

Now that everyone had undergone a Talent Change, they were starting to conduct joint training amongst beastmen, elves, and dark elves.

But considering their Skill Levels would stagnate, it was not very efficient to do that for too long.

The Talent Change had resetted their Skill Levels to one, so they took some time to raise them before starting to hunt Iron Golems.

But there was another reason why Allen had left Kiel's group behind with Allen's Army.

There had been movements around Giamut in the Central Continent.

An army of a thousand had been started, with Helmios at the helm.

Doberg, who had also been in the S Rank Dungeon, was part of it as well.

They were called the Hero's Army.

Giamut's emperor had personally appointed each member, and wanted them to become a symbol of hope during the fight against the Demon King's Army.

It was around half a year since the Talent Change Dungeon opened.

They seemed to be taking a lot of notes from how Allen's Army was working, picking only soldiers with Talents, and rather than freely letting them undergo a Talent Change, it was obligatory.

With their priorities decided, they formed the core members with Helmios and others with 3 Star Talents, had them undergo Talent Changes, and created an Army.

But just like Allen's Army, a majority of the members started with 2 Star Talents.

So far, their selection of members, Talent Changes, and training was progressing smoothly.

It seemed like Allen's show during the Five Continents' Alliance had spurred him on a lot.

Not just Allen, but Dogora had left quite an impression as well, having fought the Beast King until almost defeating him, even though Helmios had struggled so much.

Allen was also giving Helmios information about Allen's Army, and how life was going for them.

He also offered information about the Talent Change Dungeon's peculiarities, and how to hunt A Rank Monsters or Demon Generals as an army.

Allen's goal was to fight the Demon King's Army and defeat the Demon King.

He offered all the information for free, and it was up to Helmios and Giamut's emperor to use it or not.

Allen wanted the fight witht he Demon King's Army to have as little casualties as possible.

On top of all that, he was also helping Grandvelle's Knight Commander Zenov and Deputy-Knight Commander Raybrand undergo their own Talent Changes.

After all, stats and equipment decided everything in this world.

He had given them adamantite weapons and armor, so they had gotten considerably strong.

Some time after Allen provided all the information, Helmios contacted Allen again.

He offered for both armies to train together.

Allen accepted instantly, since that would strengthen both sides.

While the Demon King's Army attacks had stopped in April, they could start again anytime.

Allen agreed that this was the time to focus on bolstering their defenses against them.

It would not take much longer for the Hero's Army 1000 soldiers to be ready for the S Rank Dungeon, after having undergone Talent Changes.

The Hero's Army only had 1000 members now, but they were planning on gathering many times that number in the future.

After the strong impression Allen left on the emperor, he was trying his best to build an army that could carry his empire's future.

The elf general Lucidral and beastman general Lud could not watch over that joint training alone.

Allen was going to Prostia, but some of his friends would stay behind to take care of that.

The Hero's Army would learn Dogora's true power through that training.

They would finally understand that he had not shown his true power when he fought before.

And if they began fearing Dogora, Allen hoped that would translate into worship to Freya.

Knowing all of that, Shea could not refuse to part ways with Dogora.

Shea decided to let Dogora take care of Allen's Army.

(Though well, Kiel is the actual team leader.)

Even though Dogora had entered Extra Mode and reached Level 95, he was not the leader.

Everyone had their own skill sets, and Kiel was more suited for that role.

(I guess I should look for a room with no vases or furniture.)

Allen felt like rooms that travelers were expected to occupy would always have furniture and vases.

"We'll be setting sail soon. Let's talk a bit about our future plans."

"Okay!"

Luck had his face glued to the window, but hearing that he quickly turned around and sat down.

Everyone else also gathered around the table in front of Allen.

"So Shea, can we proceed under the assumption that Bek hasn't moved at all since then?"

"Yes. I don't know what he's planning, but he seems to be laying low for now. Though Albahar has its hands tied for the time being as well."

Allen wanted to know what more Lud had told Shea.

She did not seem to mind hearing Allen refer to Bek by name.

"I see. By having its hands tied, do you mean they fear a full-on military response from Prostia?"

It seemed like Albahar's situation was related to Bek's allegiances.

"Basically yes, they have no option but to keep still until more information surfaces."

(I see, so that's why the beastmen haven't showed so much of a response yet.)

After attacking Albahar's capital with the help of mermen, Bek remained completely still for five days.

And there seemed to be a reason why Albahar had not simply charged into Clebeur demanding revenge.

If they attacked Clebeur, it was easy to imagine Prostia would use that as an opening to attack Albahar instead.

Albahar feared that Bek was planning a second attack on Albahar.

Bek had lost his chance to become Beast King as soon as discussions started.

Now it was hard to say exactly what he would do next.

Albahar had never expected they might need to fight Prostia, which was located in the bottom of the ocean.

They did not have any means to attack them, so their best option was to wait for Prostia to take the first step.

"So Albahar won't do anything for the time being?"

"Yes, unless Bek does something."

"But Allen, Prostia isn't the only country under the ocean, is it?"

Cecile also joined the conversation.

"Not really, they're essentially all under Prostia's control, though we'll know more during our investigation."

There were many things that Allen had learned from Clebeur's royal family too.

Prostia was a large empire at the bottom of the ocean.

They controlled a large territory, which spanned from the surroundings of the continent with the Confederation, and all between the three Central Continents.

As an empire, Prostia had control over many territories, which could be thought of as provinces.

Just like how Clebeur was on the surface, they also had other vassal countries under the ocean.

There was a possibility one of those provinces or vassal countries had gone rogue.

But Allen just said that was something they would need to figure out while they investigated.

'We're about to submerge and head towards Prostia's imperial capital Patlanta.'

Allen's group was still discussing what they had to do when a magic device broadcasted a message.

Everything was loaded and secured in the large ship, so it was about to submerge.

The horizon seemed to get raised outside the window, which made Luck's heart beat faster and faster.

His body language showed just how bored he had gotten doing nothing but study and clearing Dungeons.

"Are we really going to be okay?"

"You did test whether we can breathe underwater in this form, right?"

The walls were filled with holes, salty ocean water starting to pour through them.

Allen had verified that once transformed into a merman, he could breathe underwater..

But that did not ease any of the anxiety they felt as the water level continued to rise in the room.

Most lakes and rivers in this world had clean water, but the ocean had a decent concentration of salt.

That salty water had filled the room up to their chests.

"Master Allen says it'll be okay."

Sophie tried telling Cecile to not worry.

Sophie looked like a mermaid holding a prawn, and while she felt anxious, she also tried convincing herself it would be fine.

The room eventually filled completely with water, but everyone was still okay.

'Hahah, I'll never get bored around Allen.'

"That's good to know. I'm glad you're doing fine as well, Rosen."

'I never had to breathe in the first place after all.'

Everyone in the room was breathing normally, even though the room was filled with water.

Allen's Fish A summon's Special Skill [Mimic] had also turned the Spirit God Rosen into a prawn. Rosen had no issues either.

Sophie and Luck were going to Prostia with Allen, so the Spirit God Rosen and Spirit King Fabre accompanied them.

Spirit Gods and Spirit Kings had no need to breathe or eat, but there were no sea animals that looked like squirrels or weasels.

[Mimic] changed Rosen into a prawn, while Fabre was turned into a crab.

Mermen had two holes on the root of their necks, which aided them in capturing the oxygen from the water.

That was how they could live both on land and sea.

(Hmm, so it was true that the inside of the ships gets filled with water too. I guess it makes sense since they all live underwater.)

They had no issues breathing, even though the interior of the ship had gotten completely filled with water.

Apparently the ships needing to be filled with water was also dictated by Prostia's law.

It was one of the measures taken so no people from other races could sneak into Prostia.

"It's getting darker outside too."

"I guess sunlight doesn't reach all the way down here."

The enormous ship headed away from the coast while gaining more depth.

The windows gradually became dimmer, until there was only darkness outside.

(How deep does sunlight usually reach underwater? Was it 100 or 200 meters again?)

Allen had heard that sunlight did not reach Prostia's imperial capital Patlanta.

They continued traveling in darkness for a while until the windows looked brighter again.

"Oh? What is it, what is it!"

The light illuminated the entire room, and Luck hurried to look out of the window.

The seaweeds at the seabed were glowing.

"So those are crystal flowers. They're so pretty!!"

"I know. It's a sight to behold."

Luck and Sophie were impressed with the sight.

Allen was glad to see an elf and a dark elf agreeing on something.

(I think this world's corals or something glow, right?)

At first, Allen imagined Prostia was a rather gloomy place, located so deep under the ocean that there was no sunlight.

But according to what he learned in Clebeur, that was not the case at all, there was a bright glow in the bottom of the ocean.

A form of sea vegetation grew everywhere, which looked like a flower with crystal petals that glow brightly.

Schools of fish usually gathered around those flowers, forming large groups.

The closer they got to Prostia, the more wondrous the place looked.