The fight continued on top of the crystal flower's style.
Allen considered the weakness of his Insect-type summons when fighting Bildiga, and another Demon Great General started moving too.
Basque's attack was too powerful for Dogora to block it.
"Ghuh!"
The blow sent Dogora flying back all the way to the audience seats.
'Oh come on, Dogora, show me a bit more effort, will ya?'
"Shut up!"
'Hee hee. You really are the best!'
Basque was over the moon, having dreamt of the day he could fight Dogora again for a while.
Meanwhile Dogora was struggling to avoid the heavy blows.
Dogora was trying his best, but he was no match against Basque.
(That's bad, he's trained a lot, but I guess Basque is too much for one person to handle.)
"Dogora, let me help you."
Allen had thought of fighting Ramonhamon himself, but he decided to help Dogora first.
"Ah, thanks."
Allen's Intelligence allowed him to both help Dogora and have his Insect summons fight Bildiga.
(His Level and Skill Levels have gotten pretty high, but his Blessing is still Medium. I bet he would've been able to fight better with a better Blessing. Though I guess it's thanks to all the Demon Generals that Dogora maxed out his Level.)
Allen checked Dogora's current stats again.
[Name] Dogora
[Age] 16
[Blessings] Goddess of Fire (Medium), Fire Resistance
[Talent] Barbarian King
[Level] 99
[Strength] 8729 + 14600
[Mana] 4007 + 9800
[Attack] 8988 + 14600
[Endurance] 8235 + 14600
[Agility] 6213 + 14600
[Intelligence] 3845 + 9800
[Luck] 6028 + 14600
[Skills] Barbarian King (6), True Full-Body (6), True Bombing Defeat (6), True Peerless Slash (6), True Wicked Blow (6), Body and Soul (3), Axemanship (7), Twin Axemanship (3), Shield Technique (4)
-Skill Level:
[Barbarian King] 6
[True Full-Body] 6
[True Bombing Defeat] 6
[True Peerless Slash] 6
[True Wicked Blow] 6
[Body and Soul] 3
-Skill Experience:
[True Full-Body] ~200'000 / 10'000'000
[True Bombing Defeat] ~100'000 / 10'000'000
[True Peerless Slash] ~100'000 / 10'000'000
[True Wicked Blow] ~100'000 / 10'000'000
[Body and Soul] ~500'000 / 10'000'000
After the Five Continents' Alliance meeting in June, Dogora had been fighting the Iron Golems and Gordino in the S Rank Dungeon every day for 5 months.
Thanks to that, his Level and Skill Levels had gotten quite high.
[Body and Soul] which had a 1 hour cooldown, had also reached Skill Level 3, thanks to the support from the armies, and the fact that he could spend all his Mana for it.
Axemanship had also reached Skill Level 7, going past the limits of Normal Mode.
Since the Spirit King's Blessing was also affecting the armies to the north, the experience from that battle was also reaching Allen's party.
4 Demon Generals had been defeated, pushing Dogora's Level to 99, and then the Experience entry vanished from Dogora's stats.
He had reached the limits of Extra Mode.
(So 99 is the Level cap for Extra Mode.)
Taking into account all of the buffs and equipment Dogora wore, Allen could approximate Basque's stats.
[Dogora's usual accessory loadout]:
-Ring 1: Attack + 5000
-Ring 2: Attack + 5000
-Necklace: Attack + 3000
-Earring 1: Physical Attack Damage +7%
-Earring 2: Physical Attack Damage +10%, Strength +2000, Attack +2000
[Dogora's usual armament]:
-Divine Artifact Kagutsuchi: Attack 20000
-Orichalcum battleaxe: Attack 12000
-Adamantite armor: Endurance 6000
-Dogora's combined stats with equipment and buffs (+ weapons, armor):
[Strength] 44800
[Mana] 21848
[Attack] 55180 + (Right hand 20000, left hand 12000)
[Endurance] 49480 + (6000)
[Agility] 30957
[Intelligence] 19512
[Luck] 26817
Basque had become a Demon Great General, and judging by his movements Allen guessed his stats were around 60'000.
Dogora's arm with Kagutsuchi had 75000 Attack.
Allen felt like Dogora would be able to handle him alone then, but that was not the case.
It seemed like Basque had also gotten more powerful since their last encounter.
Basque was still wearing rings, Sacred Beads, earrings, and anklets.
But there were two things that stood out.
Basque wore next to no clothes like before, but his skin looked like it was covered by some tight black net.
It was hard to believe he had suddenly gained some fetish, so it was likely some type of equipment.
And while before he fought with two identical orichalcum greatswords, the one Allen took had been replaced by a jet black one, which seemed to exude shadows.
'Basque! Kill that kid already and let me drink his blood. What are you fooling around for!!'
Basque kept toying with Dogora, which annoyed the Cursed Sword Onuba.
The blade was thirsting for blood.
'Hm? Okay okay, don't get so impatient. I won't take much longer.'
(And that sword speaks. Hmm, I wonder if it's some relative of Freya's? Or maybe swords are actually chatty in this world.)
'You, Onuba?! Why are you here?'
'That voice…Freya? I see, I see. Good thing I decided to come with Basque. You're someone I want to see bleed too!!'
Freya joined the conversation.
The Cursed Sword Onuba was starting to appear even more suspicious.
There seemed to be some connection between Onuba and Freya.
Onuba's voice gradually got angrier and turned to a yell.
'Well, time to die!'
Basque closed in the distance between him and Dogora in one jump, Onuba aimed at Dogora's throat.
"I won't let you!!"
'What's wrong, Dogora- woah?! You wanna join the fun too Allen? Hee hee! Look Onuba, there's more blood for you to drink.'
Allen charged in, attacking Basque before he could take Dogora's life, but Basque reacted almost instantly.
He dodged Allen's sword, and jumped back to the spot where he stood earlier.
(He's way too nimble. Dogora is mostly Attack focused, so he lacks Agility.)
Basque was twice as large as Dogora, but his swiftness belied his size.
His heavy attacks, powerful equipment, and defense were all balanced, but his speed on top of that made him deadly. He also had an immense amount of experience dealing with ranged attacks.
Allen was once again reminded of how strong of a foe Basque was.
At first Allen thought he could deal with Ramonhamon, but now that he needed to aid Dogora things were starting to look ugly.
Kyubel was tending to the black flames on the altar, his ritual getting closer to completion.
[Mimic]'s effect on Peromus was about to end.
But if he brought Merus and Merle here from the frontlines, then the defense of northern Patlanta would suffer.
There would be a lot of casualties from both Allen's Army and the Hero's Army, as well as the mermen defense that gathered at the northern entrance of Patlanta.
The Demon Generals and monsters gathered there were that much of a threat.
Northern Patlanta could use as much help as it could get.
Allen had fallen behind so many times he was struggling to catch up again.
It seemed like Kyubel had truly planned it all out since the beginning.
He continued pondering what the main priority was, adjusted his own stats, and came up with a new plan.
Merus' objective was to defeat the Demon Generals.
Demon Generals could easily overturn the battle, so it was best if they were removed first.
There were 13 of them, but soon after the fight began the Extra Attack took out many of them.
That also helped Allen go from Level 93, which was lower than Dogora's, to Level 100 in an instant.
[Name] Allen
[Age] 16
[Talent] Summoner
[Level] 100
[Strength] 4515 + 13200
[Mana] 7180 + 9200
[Attack] 2516 + 12000
[Endurance] 2516 + 19200
[Agility] 4679 + 24800
[Intelligence] 7190 + 17200
[Luck] 4679 + 4400
[Skills] Summoner (9), Create (9), Synthesis (9), Strengthening (9), Awakening (9), Growth (8), Grimoire Expansion (8), Inventory, Fast Summon, Equivalent Exchange, Command, Kingship, Sharing, (Sealed), (Sealed), Delete, Swordsmanship (5), Throwing (3)
[Experience] ~8000'000 / 1000'000'000'000'000
-Skill Level:
[Summoner] 9
[Create] 9
[Synthesis] 9
[Strengthening] 9
[Awakening] 9
[Growth] 8
-Skill Experience:
[Create] ~1000'000'000 / 100'000'000'000
[Synthesis] ~1000'000'000 / 100'000'000'000
[Strengthening] ~1000'000'000 / 100'000'000'000
[Awakening] ~1000'000'000 / 100'000'000'000
[Growth] ~7500'000'000 / 10'000'000'000
-Summons Acquired:
[Insect] Seal A B C D E F G H
[Beast] Seal A B C D E F G H
[Bird] Seal A B C D E F G
[Grass] Seal A B C D E F
[Stone] Seal A B C D E
[Fish] Seal A B C D
[Wraith] Seal A B C
[Dragon] Seal A B
[Angel] S A
[ - ] S
-Holder:
[Insect] H x 2, G x 2, F x 2, E x 2, D x 2, C x 2, B x 5, A x 5
[Beast] H x 1, G x 1, F x 1, E x 1, D x 1, C x 1, B x 1, A x 1
[Bird] G x 1, F x 2, E x 2, D x 1, C x 1, B x 1, A x 10
[Grass] A x 1
[Stone] E x 1, D x 1, C x 1, B x 5, A x 5
[Fish] D x 3, C x 3, B x 3, A x 3
[Wraith] C x 1, B x 1, A x 1
[Dragon] B x 1, A x 11
[Angel] A x 1
[ - ]
[Allen's usual accessory loadout]:
-Ring 1: Attack + 5000
-Ring 2: Attack + 5000
-Necklace: Attack + 3000
-Earring 1: Physical Attack Damage +7%
-Earring 2: Physical Attack Damage +10%, Strength +2000, Attack +2000
[Allen's usual armament]:
-Orichalcum sword: Attack 10000
-Black dragon armor: Endurance 4500
-Allen's combined stats with equipment and buffs (+ weapons, armor):
[Strength] 36772
[Mana] 25194
[Attack] 42208 + (10000)
[Endurance] 47561+ (4500)
[Agility] 42223
[Intelligence] 34878
[Luck] 11803
Allen moved in sync with Dogora, attacking Basque together.
Basque easily dodged both of them, almost toying with them.
Allen had renewed his equipment, brought the Growth Skill to Level 9, but his stats were still not enough to match a Demon Great General.
He could only barely hold back Basque.
(When fighting one on one, that is.)
Allen and Dogora were fighting together.
They could combine their attacks however they wanted.
"Dogora, move with me."
"S-sure."
Amidst the harsh fight, Allen spoke to Dogora, without turning to look at him.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!"
(I should be able to take one hit.)
Allen shouted loudly as he ran straight at Basque.
'Don't go screaming like that when you can't even use Skills.'
Allen did not have a single attack Skill.
That was a big reason why Basque toyed with him with such ease.
Basque gripped his Cursed Sword firmly and activated a Skill.
Seeing Allen charge blindly like that, Basque swung Onuba down.
Allen blocked with his orichalcum sword, but the attack was so powerful that his weapon and armor he obtained from the S Rank Dungeon bent in a terrible angle, and he vomited blood.
(Good, I didn't die. The Blessings worked well. It hurts though!)
Allen had something none of his friends had.
Blessings from his summons, like the Wraith B and Dragon B summons.
[Blessings from B Rank summons or higher, different from stat buffs]:
(1) Wraith B summon's Blessing: Physical Resistance
(2) Dragon B summon's Blessing: Breath Resistance
(3) Insect A summon's Blessing: Poison Nullification
(4) Beast A summon's Blessing: Critical Chance Up
(5) Bird A summon's Blessing: Flight
(6) Grass A summon's Blessing: Exorcism
(7) Stone A summon's Blessing: Damage Reduction
(8) Fish A summon's Blessing: Dodge Chance Up
(9) Wraith A summon's Blessing: Physical Resistance
(10) Dragon A summon's Blessing: Breath Nullification
(11) Angel A summon's Blessing: None
(1) and (9) were duplicates, so only one could be active at a time.
(2) was an inferior version of (10), so (2) did not activate.
But thanks to that, he vomited blood but the overall damage was reduced, and his heightened Dodge Change stopped the attack from being a Critical hit.
It was a bad wound, but as long as he was not instantly dead, Kiel would use his healing magic with perfect timing to heal him back to normal.
Meanwhile Dogora had been right behind Allen, ready to follow-up.
"Body and Soul!!"
Dogora swung the Divine Artifact Kagutsuchi, the immense heat of which left a trail of steam bubbles in the water.
