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

Chapter 664: Shea's Dream (3)

Mother and daughter proceeded to the audience chamber, where they were greeted by the sight of Beast King Muza sitting on his throne.

Beside Muza were Bek and Zew, with their mother, the Beast Queen. Mea's gaze toward the Beast Queen was filled with hatred.

"I don't remember an audience being scheduled today. This is rather sudden."

"Y-yes. Did I go too far?"

In hushed tones, Lud and Shea conversed, unsure of why they had been called. A chill ran down Shea's body, wondering if she would face her father's wrath after her mother's scolding.

The nobles present all had puzzled expressions, murmuring amongst themselves as they watched the mother and son. They also seemed unsure of why they had been summoned, much like Shea and those with her.

With Mea, Shea, and Lud kneeling on the red carpet, Beast King Muza spoke.

"Lup, proceed."

Hearing the king's command, Mea stopped glaring at the Beast Queen and looked down. Shea followed suit, bowing her head.

"Ah, yes. I will report on a new decree concerning Consort Mea and Princess Shea of the Albahar Beast Kingdom."

Lup, the prime minister, slowly unfurled a thick parchment and began to speak.

Some tiger beastmen stood by the king's side, smiling jovially.

After glancing at the tiger beastmen, Beast King Muza sighed and turned his gaze back to Prime Minister Lup. In response, Lup began to read what was written in a loud voice that could be heard by all the nobles.

"The Beast God Garm's favor for Princess Shea is clear, as made evident by the Talent granted to her. Therefore, a special exception shall be granted to her, and she'll be allowed to compete for Albahar's throne!"

Zew turned around, seemingly unaware, and looked at Lup standing behind him, then glanced at Muza, who nodded with closed eyes beside him. Bek, perhaps feeling confident, smirked as he gazed at Shea, saying nothing.

'Hmm? What's up with that?'

Luvanka had heard everything, but he was unsure of why it was such a big deal.

'So everything started here… No, that's not probably it. There's those tiger beastmen there too.'

Shea muttered in a self-deprecating tone.

'Hm? Who is that? Does he have anything to do with what they just said?'

Shea pointed at the tiger beastmen next to the Beast King, but Luvanka could not understand.

'They're emissaries from Barrio. They wanted me to become their next Beast King.'

At the time, that was something she was unaware of, but now she knew the whole story.

'Emissaries from Barrio? But why were they there?'

'They heard I was granted a good Talent, and not many people are born with those in Barrio.'

Mea had called her Talent worthless, but it was more than enough for a Beast King. But if a Beast King's children all had Talents with 2 Stars less, then they would often adopt someone else with a better Talent, or sometimes even favor an adventurer or a commoner. If they wanted to preserve the bloodline however, it was better to bring in the daughter of a princess married off to another country.

Shea understood all of that now, and she just laughed about it mockingly.

'So you would've become the next Beast King like that? Is that even possible?'

'It happens more often than you'd think. Not to mention that a small country like Barrio might even gloat about receiving a princess from a large country like Albahar.'

'How's that connected to you being able to claim Albahar's throne then?'

'Albahar didn't like having to let go of me. So by giving me that chance, they were refusing to listen to Barrio's request.'

'I see, and then Barrio would still be able to boast that someone from their country could become Albahar's Beast King, and they accepted the result.'

'Oh, you actually know something about politics. But yes, my father wasn't thrilled by it, as another country was forcing him to make decisions.'

'I only know what I learned through being a summon.'

Luvanka claimed that was not his own knowledge.

"But why! They're just a bunch from Barrio-"

"What about it?"

"N-nevermind. Please forget I said anything…"

Lup seemed to have been waiting for the nobles to react that way.

"As you might know, normally, only the child of the Beast Queen can inherit the Beast King's throne. However, it was Lord Garm who bestowed this talent upon her, and we must respect that decision. Is everyone in agreement with this? Naturally, Mea, who is Shea's mother, shall be honored as a Beast Queen as well!"

"W-wait, what!? A-am I really the Beast Queen now!? Th-thank you so much!!"

Mea screamed with joy, then lowered her head to the carpet, overwhelmed with gratitude.

Both the nobles standing beside Prime Minister Lup and Shea herself remained frozen in confusion, unsure of the situation. Seeing Luvanka tilting his head in confusion, Shea clarified that the term "Beast Queen" referred to a legitimate wife of the Beast King, while the rest were simply referred to as consorts or concubines. Since there was typically only one legitimate wife, which was Bek and Zew's mother, Mea was elevated to that position thanks to the exception allowing her daughter to also have a claim to the throne.

Even after the explanation, Luvanka seemed unable to comprehend why Mea was so overjoyed.

"I expected no less, Princess Shea. Congratulations on inheriting the right to the Beast King's throne."

Clap clap clap

The tiger beastmen emissaries from the Barioh Beast Kingdom, standing at one corner beside the Beast King, began applauding.

Bek joined in the applause, followed by Zew. Finally, the other beastmen standing in line followed suit, offering their applause in celebration of Shea's inheritance of the Beast King's throne.

'Hm? What happened to your body, Luvanka?'

'Wait what? And you too!!'

'Me too?! Is…is this…'

Shea and Luvanka's bodies started emitting glowing bubbles.

Their consciousness also began to fade. It was time to wake up. Shea slowly opened her eyes inside the magic tent. When she opened the door, Luvanka was standing there looking at her.

'...It seems we both had the same dream.'

"Hmm, it would seem so. I wonder what Lord Garm wants from us."

It was a weird way to wake up, but they had breakfast, and then went to challenge Cougar again.

Shea used Full Beast Mode, and Luvanka activated Mythical Beast Mode, and they fought with much better coordination than the day before. It was like they shared one mind after sharing their past.

But Shea's face had changed even more. Having seen her childhood gave her a more ferocious look and made her movements faster.

They pushed past their previous limits, but they were still no match against Cougar, and once Mythical Beast Mode ended, they retreated and trained together.

????

12 days passed after they started the Beast God Garm's challenge.

Whenever Luvanka had the Awakened Skill [Mythical Beast Mode] available they fought Cougar. Once it ran out, Shea and Luvanka would go train combos together.

And so after many days, they fought Cougar for the 12th time.

'Hmph, so you still haven't gotten tired. I'm sure the other team already received Garm's trial by now.'

"I wonder. Zew has always been slow to make up his mind, I'm sure he's still stuck somewhere."

As usual, Shea fought back against Cougar's provocations. If he attacked with words, she fought back with words. If he attacked with his fists, she replied with her own fists, regardless of whether he was a Demigod or not.

'Well, let's get started then!'

Cougar ignored Shea's retort, and his body began to transform and grow bigger.

'Full Beast Mode.'

'Mythical Beast Mode!!'

The two calmly activated their Skills. They knew that Cougar would not attack from that distance, so Shea also used her Skills [Counterattack Frenzy] and [Inexhaustible Beast King], and also used a Golden Egg. All her equipment was centered around Agility too.

'I can tell you've gotten better at fighting together. And you look like you'll try even harder today.'

Cougar grinned. They had fought many times already, but today Shea looked even more serious.

'Hmph, if this is enough to impress you then I guess Beast Gods aren't such a big threat.'

'Shea, be mindful of your distance.'

'I know. Let's start.'

Luvanka reiterated their strategy and they began their actions as planned. The two of them went from standing side by side, into drawing a wide arc around Cougar.

They just needed to create a moment of hesitation in their opponent, if even for just one one-hundredth of a second.

'Hmph, I surpass you both in power and speed. I'm tired of such attacks already!'

Cougar, wary of Luvanka's attack, chose Shea as the target for his assault. Fully equipped, Shea had higher stats than Luvanka.

"True Clobber!"

Shea unleashed her skill [True Clobber] almost as if it were a jab, aiming to set up her Divine Technique, [Divine Wind Consecutive Hits] in a combo. If she could maintain the combo, her attacks would be twice as powerful and impossible to defend against.

It would be even more if they managed to chip away at Cougar's Strength with some strikes by then.

Shea and Luvanka continued to fight, benefiting from their Strength regeneration and constantly shielding each other, waiting for the right opportunity.

'(1) Mguh!'

As Cougar staggered from Shea's attack, Luvanka closed the distance. Unlike ranged magic, melee Skills had limited reach, and maintaining the right distance was crucial for successful attacks.

'(2) Punch Shower!'

Luvanka was 30 meters tall, and his 6 arms had plenty of reach and speed, making it easy to keep a combo going.

'(3) True Demolishing Punch! Good!!'

'Ghah! Don't get too carried away!!'

Shea's straightforward nature made her let out a comment.

Combo 1: Counterattacks from Counterattack Frenzy Combo 2: Special Skill [Punch Shower] Combo 3: Skill [True Demolishing Punch] *The first [True Clobber] wasn't counted as part of the combo since it was blocked

With three consecutive combos, the skill [True Demolishing Punch] dealt 1.8x times the damage. While the special move [Punch Shower] only had 1.2x times the power, it was crucial for setting up Shea's Divine Technique [Divine Wind Consecutive Hits], making the third combo hit harder.

However, [True Demolishing Punch] had the drawback of knocking the opponent back significantly, potentially breaking the combo if they moved out of range.

Shea debated whether to use her Divine Technique [Divine Wind Consecutive Hits] from range. She would be able to catch up with Cougar, who had been knocked back by the Skill [True Demolishing Punch], and keep the combo up, but it would only deal 2x damage since the first [True Clobber] hit had been blocked, and ideally she wanted the combo count to be a bit higher before using that. While she thought of that, Cougar was already beginning to regain his footing on the stone floor.

'Luvanka!'

'Leave it to me, Shea. Just one more combo. (4) Tremor Waves!'

'Ghah?!'

Luvanka raised one leg and stomped hard with it multiple times. The Special Skill [Tremor Waves] sent ripples through the stone floor, causing Cougar to cry out in agony as he was hit by the shockwave, allowing the combo to continue.

'Thanks Luvanka! Divine Wind Consecutive Hits!"

'Guh!?'

All of Shea's claws plunged deep into Cougar's body, sending him flying towards the stairs.

After leaving the stone floor of the temple in disarray, Luvanka leaped towards the stairs.

'Wait! You've passed the challenge. That was a splendid five-combo attack! Your initiative to incorporate long-range attacks into the combo was magnificent!'

'Huh? We passed?'

Cougar's sudden announcement made Luvanka's fist freeze before reaching him.