Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 16 - Chapter 3

Chapter Three: The Gaunt Man

The Tetragrammaton

“Yeah, that’s right. It’s likely that that one’s in Cortana too... Huh? The Blue Sky Songstress? I did consider it, but it looks like Caldina really is plannin’ to gather everything.”

In his own room aboard The Tetragrammaton, Rascal was talking into a magic comms item. On the other end of the line was Zhang; the purpose of this call was to inform him about the Superior that was sighted in Caldina, but Zhang responded by saying that he’d run into AR-I-CA and that she most likely knew who they were.

“First of all, use those accessories to change your appearance again. Yeah. Like I said before, just twist the knob to choose between five different disguises. It’ll buy ya time, at least,” Rascal said, explaining what he thought was the current optimal approach to Zhang. “Your top priority is survival. Data gatherin’ is secondary, and gettin’ the Orb is tertiary. And don’t worry about Emily. If a massacre breaks out, just wait in a safe place before pickin’ her up. Yeah, that’ll be fine... All right, then, keep it up.”

Having said all he needed to, Rascal cut the call. Machina was still doing push-ups at his side, and he set the comms device on her head.

Supporting herself with just her left arm, she used her right to move the bandage over her right eye slightly, prompting the device to smoothly roll into the gap between her eye and the bandage and be stored within.

The device was as big as a palm, yet it had no trouble fitting into that seemingly small space.

Rascal was quite familiar with the workings behind this, so he didn’t even comment on it.

“Zhang didn’t ask why it was okay to leave Emily. I guess he finally discovered her true nature.” Based on Zhang’s words and tone, Rascal could tell that the two of them had already been caught up in some trouble that had exposed Emily’s true nature, just as he’d expected.

“Well, Caldina’s cities are full of people she’d see as enemies,” he added.

“Up, down, up, down... Master, I always wondered... What do you actually think about Emily’s thing?” Machina asked, still doing her push-ups.

“By ‘thing,’ you mean...?”

“The Emilynation Mode, of course!”

“...Oh, that was the name the dumbass gave it before she headed out to Altar,” Rascal noted, remembering Gerbera’s smug face as she said it to him. “I can’t believe how proud she was of that one. ‘It’s like elimination, but it has her name!’ she said, grinnin’ obnoxiously and puffing out her chest...not like she’s got anything to puff out.”

“How lecherous of you to stare at a lady’s pa— I mean, chest-armor! Also, you’re not one to talk! You’re the one who named this ship!”

“What’s wrong with ‘Tetragrammaton?’”

“...Wow! That’s a serious face!”

Rascal was indeed the one who had named this ship. At the time the vehicle was restored, Illegal Frontier had four members, each with an Embryo related to gods. So, he’d chosen “Tetragrammaton,” which referred to “the four letters of God.”

Another reason for the name, though, was the fact that Machina would be the one controlling it.

“...Back to the topic of Emily,” said Rascal. “After she does the switch, her mind and actions are fixed on the sole purpose of killing anyone she sees as an enemy. And as you know, she forgets it all once it’s done. That’s how her ‘thing’ works.”

The people she saw as enemies were the ones her brain personally judged as “minuses.” Based on Rascal’s experience, he believed that Emily remembered absolutely everything other people did to her. She remembered who was a plus or a minus to her — and if they were the latter, she would deem them an enemy and slaughter them.

Because of this, she was most dangerous during her first impression of a person, when they were neither a plus nor a minus.

If someone she just met raised a weapon against her or threatened to kill her, she would see them as enemies immediately and kill them even if the threats were empty ones. There was even a chance that it would develop into a “chain.”

That was the reason why Rascal was so tense when Zhang and Emily first met. If Zhang had done something “minus”-like, she might’ve killed him right there.

It also meant that she would never murder a fellow member of IF.

As long as the plus-minus system inside her head was functional, it was difficult for her to ever view her friends at IF — who had many pluses in her book — as enemies.

That dumbass almost managed it, though, Rascal thought, thinking of Gerbera. Emily had grown very attached to her since then, however, for reasons unknown to Rascal.

When Rascal had asked, Gerbera seemed to be just as ignorant of the reason; Emily on the other hand had only said, “It was very very tasty!”

Back then, the question of what had caused them to become so close had bothered him to no end.

The answer to that question turned out to be a chance encounter where Emily had walked in on Gerbera while she was making sweets. Gerbera had casually offered some to Emily, and they were so delicious that the girl had instantly become attached to her.

Back then, Emily was the only IF member who had any idea that Gerbera’s sweet-making skills were extraordinary. Not even Gerbera herself was truly aware of it.

“But Emily is human, isn’t she? Why is it that she can basically become a killing machine?” Machina asked.

“...This is just my outlook, but I think it’s a kind of mental illness.”

“Hmm?”

“It’s basically an alternate personality focused on nothin’ but murder... Though, I’m not sure if it can even be called a ‘personality.’ She just kills her enemies, then watches out for any more enemies, then goes on to kill those enemies, repeating this loop until they’re all gone.”

“Hmm... That reminds me of the robots we find in the ruins.”

“Yeah. Like you said, it’s almost mechanical... It’s like she boots up some sort of murder program. Though, knowing her real life, it’s not that weird for her to develop these kinds of symptoms. ‘Reality is stranger than fiction,’ as they say.”

Rascal wasn’t as uninvested in this as he initially appeared.

For certain reasons, he knew of Emily’s situation in real life. He was aware that the Emily here was no different from the Emily on the other side...her true nature included.

Thankfully, her real self was never in any situations that would call for her to switch to murder mode.

Or more accurately, it was no longer possible for that to happen.

I guess we can only hope that her condition subsides as she matures, Rascal casually thought. Good thing it’s not a big deal if you kill people here. Between that and the tripled time, I’d say this is a pretty good environment for her.

“Master! Why are you so quiet?! Is all the sweat from these push-ups highlighting my curves that well?! Feel free to come and get some, in that case!”

“Like hell, ya piece of scrap. And you don’t even have the glands. You can’t sweat.”

“Not with that attitude!” Machina said before letting out a war cry and speeding up her push-ups.

Needless to say, not a drop of sweat resulted.

“Oh yeah! I just remembered something!”

“What?”

“I asked Zeta the same thing before! She gave me a different answer! She’s the correct one, right?!”

“...Why are ya so confident I’m below Zeta?” Rascal said with a sigh before shifting to the topic of Zeta’s outlook. “Yeah, Zeta has a different opinion on Emily. She thinks that Emily’s still conscious after she switches, and later uses extreme autosuggestion to make herself believe she didn’t do anythin’. I’m not convinced you can fool Truth Discernment like that, but I guess it’s not impossible.”

Part of Rascal thought that such distinction meant nothing to post-switch Emily.

“Hmm? Which one of you is right, then?” Machina asked.

“To find that out, you’d have ta look directly into Emily’s mind. And with the player protection system in place, that’s not happenin’. Even if ya bring a Superior Embryo.”

Rascal believed that Emily’s killing mode was a symptom of mental illness, while Zeta thought it was all acting and autosuggestion. At this point, no one could know which one of them was right, for not even Rascal knew of any Embryos that could interfere with the minds of Masters.

“Regardless, the result will be the same. There’s no point thinkin’ about it.”

“Result of what?”

“With The Blue Sky Songstress, Emily, and that one we talked about, Cortana’s Orb has three Superiors gathered around it. It’s gonna get ugly.”

The city was on the verge of becoming a battlefield. The explosives were set, and now all it needed was a spark to set it off.

However...

“No matter what, Emily’ll be the last one standing. That’s gonna be the result, and it ever ain’t gonna change.”

Regardless what kind of battle ensued, The Weapon, Rascal the Bloodonyx, was absolutely certain that Emily would never fall.

“That is true!” nodded his Embryo.

Everyone else in IF who knew Emily would have surely agreed with them.

They all knew how extreme Emily’s abilities truly were.

“Her job is to observe, though. The other two’ll fight before she gets involved... But I don’t think she’ll stop at just ‘observin’,’” Rascal said as he gazed out the window, in the direction of Cortana.

◇◆◇

City of Commerce, Cortana

After leaving the café, AR-I-CA went to a particularly gaudy mansion here in Cortana — the mayor’s residence.

With her back against the mansion’s walls, she was communicating with Hugo.

“I’m sorry, Teach,” he said. “I lost them.”

He’d combed through the café’s surroundings but failed to find the pair they’d shared a table with. While searching, he’d passed by a bunch of terrified men — but besides that, he’d found nothing of note.

“Yeah, they probably changed their appearances,” AR-I-CA said. “There’s accessories that give you multiple disguises to choose from.” The face Emily “wore” at the café was different than the one in her wanted photo, so AR-I-CA was fairly certain about this. “Her appearance and stats might be fake, but her actions will be all too real. If she’s really who I think she is, then she’ll definitely do something. You just go wherever there’s any sign of trouble.”

“...All right.”

“Anyway, I’ll go grab the Orb off the mayor. Byeee!” AR-I-CA said before ending the call.

Okay, I’ll leave the girl to Yu for now and just get this over with, she thought. She’d already told Hugo about the Murder Princess. There was still no guarantee that the girl was really her —but you could never be too careful.

The atrocities committed by the Murder Princess were many and well-known. It was said that she’d even slaughtered each and every single member of the Pentagon Caravan — the 469-strong clan that was second in Caldina’s rankings.

We know her job, but we don’t know much about her Embryo. That’s bad. The details of the Murder Princess job were well-known even among tians, but the details of her Embryo, Youaltepuztli, were a mystery even to Sefirot.

All that they really knew about it was that it was focused not on large-scale destruction, but rather on lengthy battles against many enemies.

Remembering a fellow Sefirot member who was focused on endurance battles, AR-I-CA tried speculating about the Murder Princess. Is she like our boy Carl? If your defense is broken, you can take out lots of people one by one. But man...I’m glad I had Yu and Cyco with me when she came. Going by Cyco’s reaction, it should work real good.

AR-I-CA had a good guess about what caused Cyco to change.

Embryos with skills based on certain numbers had some sort of sensitivity to those same numbers. Ray Starling’s Nemesis, for example, had an innate counter that tracked the amount of damage Ray suffered.

Similarly, Cyco could just feel how much of a kinslayer someone was.

Faced with the Murder Princess’s obscenely high kill count of her own kind, Cyco, understandably, had found her senses overwhelmed.

However, that also meant that...

They’re probably the Murder Princess’s greatest enemy.

...she would be extremely susceptible to the effects of Cyco’s La Porte de l’Enfer.

The skill Froze targets based on the amount of their own kind they’d killed. If Hugo could just activate it, the Murder Princess — whose kill count far exceeded a hundred — would Freeze without a doubt.

That skill alone should end the battle, and White Rose should be able to hold out until Yu can use it... Fran made that thing really tough.

MGFX 002 White Rose — the unit that Mr. Franklin of The Triangle of Wisdom gifted to his little sibling, Hugo. Its multilayered armor, Fleur d’Hiver, was created with extremely sturdy material as well as having its defense enhanced with skills. If AR-I-CA’s assumption was correct, the surface armor was actually made of the Mythical metal — the scarlet Hihi’irokane. It was just a different color, either because adding the self-repair function had changed the metal’s properties or because Franklin had just made it white somehow.

Regardless, it was clear that no Magingear in this world was sturdier than White Rose. It could no doubt withstand even the Murder Princess’s attacks.

It probably cost several times more than Opera. It has crazy stats too... Looks like Fran intends to keep the promise she made to me. I dunno about the “entrusting to Yu” part, though...

AR-I-CA cracked a smile as she recalled the promise she’d shared with her dear friend before leaving The Triangle of Wisdom.

“I guess that promise will have to wait until Yu’s grown some more,” she whispered to herself before switching gears.

Now, she would infiltrate the mayor’s mansion.

AR-I-CA could sense danger, so it wasn’t difficult for her to sneak past the security. If she could acquire the Orb just like that, everything would be fine — and if the mayor had it on his person, she’d set up an ambush and take it using Blue Opera’s supersonic speed.

Killing him could destabilize the city, so she was planning to just take the Orb and get out. If that caused any political problems, she’d just leave them to her sponsor — the president.

“Let’s-a go then! Wait, huh?” As she psyched herself up to cross the wall and start the operation, she noticed something happening at the main gates.

“ARE YOU MESSING WITH US?!”

“...”

It was a conversation. One side could be heard easily, but distance made it hard to hear the other.

AR-I-CA considered the situation.

An incident at the front gates would act as a good distraction for her operation. However, her woman’s intuition — a force separate from Cassandra — told her that things could be bad if she didn’t figure out exactly what was happening.

With that in mind, she leaped over the wall and entered the mansion’s garden before making her way closer to the gate, keeping concealed behind trees and greenery all the while.

Of course, she was there in no time.

At the gates, there was a group of ten men. Or more accurately, a group of nine men and one lone man.

The nine were brawny tians who, based on the results of Reveal, were all over level 300 — very impressive for Caldinians. That, combined with their high-grade equipment, led AR-I-CA to assume that they were members of the private army tasked to protect the mayor’s mansion.

Tians were still seen as better full-time guards than Masters. People who had a tendency to suddenly disappear were obviously unfit to provide security for anyone.

The person facing these tians seemed to be the exact opposite of them.

He had a gaunt face and a body so thin a strong wind could blow him away. Not even his loose robe could hide just how lean the man was. If someone said that he’d just recovered from a serious illness, no one would doubt them for a second.

AR-I-CA’s Reveal told her that his stats were far below those of the men, but...

...They’re fake, she thought. Her instincts told her that the man wasn’t weak, but had only made himself seem that way.

“What’s yer deal, anyway?! Ya think ya can just waltz in here and see the mayor just like that...?!”

“I’m sorry... I just need to talk to him. But if I told you why...it wouldn’t be good for him.”

“And ya expect us to understand ya?! Ya got any clue how shady ya look right now?! There’s no damn way we can let ya see ’im!”

“I suppose you’re right... Ohh, how should I put it...?”

The man hung his head and put his left hand over his forehead, revealing a crest depicting “a woman holding a skull.”

The lone man facing the tough private soldiers was a Master.

“Ohh. I see, I see. This much can be said, I think...”

“What?! Say it!”

“Please pass this message on, from me to him: ‘Please show me the Orb’ and ‘I heard about this from Fria’...”

The representative of the soldiers pondered this for a moment.

The gaunt man was no doubt suspicious, but he was also a Master, making it possible that he had good reasons for being here. They’d had a visit from a Superior just yesterday, and perhaps this man was somehow related to that.

“Wait here!” the representative said before returning to the mansion.

A few minutes later, he returned, accompanied by the Mayor of Cortana, Douglas Coin. His complexion was as good as it was when AR-I-CA saw him yesterday, but his expression was laden with profound distress.

“Are you the Master who sent the message?” he asked.

“Yes,” the gaunt man replied. “I came here to look at the UBM Orb you have.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about!” the mayor insisted. I knew it! A robber seeking the Orb of De Vermis! he thought, panicking.

The mayor was secretly keeping the Orb containing an Ancient Legendary UBM called “The Rebirthing Infestation, De Vermis.”

Just some time ago, he’d used it to make himself younger.

Some Orbs could only be used if you knew exactly how to use them, but De Vermis was different. Anyone who possessed it and merely desired its power would quickly be granted healthy bodies.

After wishing upon the Orb, the mayor had actually regained his youth overnight.

De Vermis was also particularly loyal. The day after the mayor became healthy, the Orb began talking directly to his mind, telling him how to perform a ritual that would grant him “a new life eternal.”

He was actually working on that even now.

I only need three more days... Then I will finally be immortal!

Having gained immense wealth and power even for a Caldinian elite, just like many others before him, he now craved immortality.

De Vermis had told him that “a new life eternal” would not only be impervious to death, but also grant him immense amounts of power.

When that happens, I will no longer need to fear the congress or any Superior! That is why I simply cannot let them take De Vermis!

That was why he’d ordered his maid to assassinate AR-I-CA last night. Doing so would buy him the time he needed to finally become immortal and gain the power to resist those who would judge him for it.

Most would see his line of thinking as extremely narrow-minded, but the mayor couldn’t understand that perspective. He was so close to the impossible goal of achieving immortality, after all.

“But...Fria is telling me that you have it...” Though the mayor denied it, the gaunt man weakly, but with certainty, claimed otherwise.

“That is what I came to ask! Why do you know about Fria...?! What is your relationship with her?! Speak!”

For some reason, the man’s words had driven the mayor into a panic. Neither the personal soldiers nor AR-I-CA could understand why.

However, the gaunt man could.

“...‘Speak’? Do you really want me to?” the man asked as he looked around. It was hard to tell if he was looking at the mayor’s soldiers, AR-I-CA, both, or neither.

“Yes! Do it! After all, she could not possibly have told you about any Orb! It’s impossible!”

“Impossible because...she died years before you even had it?” the man asked, looking straight at the mayor.

No, not at him, but...

“But it was Fria who told me about the Orb. And she did so just minutes ago, actually. After all...”

“Fria...the same Fria that you tortured and killed...is right over there,” he said, pointing behind the mayor.

“Wh-What...?” The mayor hesitantly turned around, but there was nothing there.

He wasn’t the only one confused. The soldiers and AR-I-CA also didn’t see anything.

However, anyone with Truth Discernment saw that it wasn’t a lie, and the man’s eyes were focused on the space as if there was truly something there.

“She’s saying that she’s the wife of your political opponent and that you brought them down and killed them.”

“W-Wait...”

“And...Fria is far from the only one who’s buried underneath this mansion. Ohh... I was wondering why there aren’t any dead children in this city’s streets. You were gathering them up... Wait, some died after you got the Orb... A total of a hundred and ninety-eight, it seems. And most died as slaves...”

“Wait! What are you saying?!” the mayor shouted, thoroughly confused.

It wasn’t because the man was speaking nonsense. Quite the opposite, in fact — he had a full grasp of the deeds the mayor had committed under his mansion, right down to the number of people involved.

To complete the ritual to gain “a new life eternal,” he’d secretly gathered corpses and even killed slaves, but the gaunt man knew it all.

He even knew of the sins the mayor had committed long before he even knew of the ritual.

“Ohh... I’m sorry,” the man said. “I happen to have this skill, Soul Sight...which, well, lets me see souls. That includes people who are no longer with us. I can talk to them and even negotiate with them. Fria actually told me about your crimes in exchange for doing her a certain favor.”

Upon hearing those words, the mayor was overcome by shock.

He was well aware of the skill this man had just named.

“Soul Sight...! Th-That... That is the ultimate job skill of the necromancer grouping...!”

“...Huh? Ohh... I’m sorry... I haven’t introduced myself yet.”

The man put his hand to his chest...

“My name is Benetnasch. My job is...King of Tartarus.”

...and declared himself transcendent.

“King of...King of Tartarus?!” the mayor exclaimed in a panic, backing away. The mayor’s soldiers all stepped in front of him, but their expressions were stern, clearly showing their fear of Benetnasch.

Unlike Masters, who had well-rounded avatars crafted by the control AIs, tians were born with sets of talents that prohibited all but a few of them from ever acquiring Superior Jobs. This made them acutely aware of just how powerful the bearers of these jobs were.

“So, let me ask again... May we talk about that Orb you have?” Benetnasch asked.

“Y-You’re planning to take it from me...!” said the mayor, showing no intention of hiding the truth any longer. It was obviously futile by this point — if Benetnasch’s stats as they appeared to Reveal were indeed fake and he was actually the King of Tartarus, then it was fair to assume he had accessories with skills like Truth Discernment.

The mayor also used a magic item to activate a barrier around the mansion that would prevent people from noticing whatever happened inside it.

After all, if someone were to hear the sins Benetnasch had alluded to, not even his position as a mayor would save him from severe punishment.

“For now, I just want to see it,” said Benetnasch. “I still don’t know if it has the power I seek. If it doesn’t, I’ll back off...”

“And what if it does?!” the mayor exclaimed.

“If it happens to have the power I want...I would like to have it. Through a trade, of course.”

“A trade...?” the mayor asked.

Benetnasch nodded before replying, “The souls here told me about many of your crimes...but I won’t report any of them to the Caldinian congress if you have what I want. Oh, but if it isn’t what I want, I’ll report it regardless. It’s what I promised to your victims.”

“Guh...!” the mayor winced. Burglary was a crime that could get you on a wanted list. Because of this, Benetnasch wanted to get the Orb with a trade instead of just taking it — but to the mayor, this was no better than blackmail.

The courts of Infinite Dendrogram used Truth Discernment without restriction, so verbal testimonies had as much gravity as physical evidence. Even if that hadn’t been the case, a search of the mayor’s mansion would turn up plenty of proof.

This might not have been a problem immediately, since this city was still in the palm of his hand. However, if his memory served him well, the capital of Drag-Nomad was currently about a day away by dragon carriage. It would take only two days for Benetnasch to report his crimes to the congress and return here with government officials in tow — perhaps even less if Benetnasch had any faster means of travel.

The Mayor of Cortana was powerful even among the Caldinian elite, but the sins he’d committed were so numerous and severe that even he would be made to face judgment.

He would lose his title as mayor as well as the Orb itself before the ritual’s completion in three days.

I have not yet accomplished all that is needed to become immortal! It is too early for me to be caught! the mayor thought in distress. For a moment, he considered refusing Benetnasch’s offer and just fleeing Cortana the moment his crimes were reported.

After all, the mayor didn’t have to perform the ritual in his mansion. He could put the necessary corpses in an inventory, find a safe and secret spot outside Cortana, and complete it there. However, before he could resolve to do that...

“T-h-a-t...i-s...n-o-g-o-o-d.”

...he heard a voice in his head — the fluent, but not flowing, words of De Vermis, the Orb that served him.

Wh-Why? the Mayor asked.

“L-e-a-v-i-n-g...t-h-e c-i-t-y...m-e-a-n-s...m-u-r-d-e-r,” the Orb replied. Its words made the mayor gasp.

The reason Benetnasch wanted to obtain the Orb through a trade instead of by force was because there were many potential witnesses here. The King of Tartarus had yet to be put on the wanted list, but if he tried to steal the Orb from the mansion of the mayor himself, he would certainly be branded a criminal. That was why he was taking the soft approach.

But if I leave Cortana and find a place where no one would find me...

“Y-o-u-w-o-u-l-d-b-e-k-i-l-l-e-d.” De Vermis cut the thought short.

The mayor hadn’t considered that angle. Away from prying eyes, Benetnasch could kill him and take the Orb without anyone noticing.

There was no guarantee that was indeed the King of Tartarus’s plan, but the idea still filled the mayor with fear, urging him to take a step back.

“I see. So he would leave to report me...and then kill... In that case...” the mayor mumbled, covered in sweat and hanging his head.

“Hm...? Is something wrong? Are you talking to someone? Wait... Now that I look at it... Your body... The soul inside is...” Benetnasch said, looking at him with a worried expression.

His gaze was directed not at the mayor’s face, but at something deep below the surface — something only he could see.

This is my only chance...! If I dispose of him now...!

“...T-h-e-n-y-o-u-w-i-l-l-h-a-v-e-a-n-e-w-l-i-f-e-e-t-e-r-n-a-l.” De Vermis finished the mayor’s thought for him. Murdered Masters didn’t come back for three whole days. If killed here, Benetnasch wouldn’t be able to report him before the mayor had finished his ritual and become immortal.

Normally, challenging a Superior Job — as well as a Master with a Superior Embryo — would be sheer recklessness. However, King of Tartarus was a job that commanded the undead.

Undead were monsters without living bodies. This gave them nigh inexhaustible fortitude, but in exchange they were vulnerable to many things — sunlight, fire, and holy attacks, to name a few.

It was noon right now, and a searing hot one, at that. In an environment like this, any undead were bound to wither away in mere moments.

That meant that Benetnasch couldn’t employ any of his monsters, leaving only his own frail self.

The mayor knew well that rear guard casters had low physical stats, and this was enough information to convince him that he could win this battle.

His decision firm, the mayor raised his head and held up his right hand, displaying his Jewel.

“Call! Flame Dragon! Saint Dragon!” He raised his voice to activate a skill and summon two of the Pure-Dragons he’d acquired using his vast wealth. Both were of the skydragon kind, but one was a red-scaled fire dragon, while the other was a white-scaled dragon of the holy element.

“Mayor?!” the soldiers exclaimed, shocked that he would go on the offensive against a Superior.

“Kill him! He cannot wield his undead now!” the mayor urged them. “And keep in mind that if my crimes are laid bare, you will be judged along with me!”

“Ah!” The soldiers all voiced their shock. They had acted as the mayor’s hand for a long time, assisting him in committing many foul deeds. Even before he’d begun the preparations for the ritual, they’d done many terrible things on his behalf.

For them, the great payment made it worth it, but there was no denying that they were as guilty as the mayor.

With that in mind, they gathered their resolve and faced Benetnasch.

“I...really can’t recommend using force,” Benetnasch said, still apparently trying to be considerate of everyone present. “If you use violence against me, I will be legally permitted to fight back.”

Fights between Masters were completely outside of tian law, but that wasn’t the case for conflicts between tians and Masters. Masters who killed tians would be placed on wanted lists, while Masters who were attacked by tians would become legally able to retaliate...in self-defense.

Benetnasch knew this well, and that was exactly why he showed concern — or perhaps pity — for these people who raised a hand against him.

“I really think you should reconsider,” he said. “I’m speaking to you Pure-Dragons, as well. Please refrain. You will surely die if you don’t.”

He showed extra sympathy to the two dragons summoned by the mayor. However, the great beasts only chuckled in response.

These intelligent creatures could feel the aura of death about Benetnasch, so they knew well that he was a necromancer. In broad daylight, he couldn’t even hope to match these wielders of fire and holy power.

Thus, Benetnasch’s warnings fell on deaf ears.

“Kill him!” the mayor ordered, prompting the two dragons to ready their breath attacks...

“Awaken Undead — Aragorn.”

...only for their heads to be severed a moment later.

Separated from their bodies, the large dragon heads rose into the air before falling to the ground. A drizzle of flame and holy radiance escaped from their opened throats before their entire bodies dissolved into specks of light and vanished.

“Huh... Ah?” The mayor and his soldiers were struck dumb — partially because the two dragons had died in a flash, but even more because of the giant object that had appeared before their eyes.

It was an entire massive skeleton, and one that possessed the majesty of a four-legged dinosaur fossil enshrined in a prestigious museum. There was a faint glow in its empty eye sockets, and its tail was a blade whose edge shone sharper than any sword of legend — no doubt the very weapon that rid the dragons of their heads.

“...Over-tamed and overfed. Too much flesh and fat on those bones. They were more swine than dragon,” the skeleton said in an imposing voice, its disdain for the dragons all too obvious.

Referring to this creature as merely a “skeleton,” though, did not convey the truth. Actually, it was a “High-End King-Edge Skeleton Dragon” and its — or rather, his — true name was Aragorn.

Once an Ancient Legendary UBM called “Bladedragon King, Drag-Edge,” he’d been defeated and as a result had become Benetnasch’s MVP special reward in the form of “Full-Body Skeleton of the Bladedragon.” Now, Benetnasch had revived him using Necromancy.

“...And there it is,” said Benetnasch with a sigh. “Those Pure-Dragons seemed like the type you’d dislike. I knew you wouldn’t hold back against them.”

“It is a grievous sin to debase a strong life. Thus, dragons must never fall as far as they have.”

It was worth noting that Benetnasch had actually summoned Aragorn using an impressive technique that combined the Instant Release function of the inventory where he’d stored Aragorn’s skeleton with a perfectly timed cast of Awaken Undead.

“...I’ll salvage their souls, at least,” Benetnasch said, removing a crystal-like object from his robe.

It looked like a Crystal of Resentment, the kind used to unlock the King of Corpses job — but unlike that stone, it was shining with all sorts of colors.

Once he was done, there was slightly more red and white in it than before.

“H-How...?!” the mayor exclaimed, having somewhat recovered from the shock. “We are in broad daylight! Why is this undead unaffected...?!”

“My Embryo has a passive skill that nullifies the sunlight- and fire-related vulnerabilities of all undead in my party. That lets them function just fine even within daylight.”

This was an outright negation of the one thing that had led the mayor to believe he would win.

He’d ignored the existence of Embryos — arguably the thing that defined Masters — and it had led to his staggering defeat. But that didn’t matter anymore.

All that mattered was the result.

“This is now a situation where I wouldn’t be punished if I hurt you, just like I warned it would be,” said Benetnasch, and he was right. The mayor had just attacked him with intent to kill.

This was a world full of violent bandits and other humanoid dangers, so self-defense laws were far more lax than they were in real life. Because of this, Benetnasch could now kill the mayor outright without facing punishment.

“I’ll ask one more time... May I see the Orb?” he said as he extended his right hand.

“Ghhnh...” The mayor let out a moan. Having lost the dragons he’d been counting on, he felt like he could barely move. His soldiers were slowly backing away as well.

All of them could feel the sheer difference in power between them and Aragorn. They were neither stupid nor courageous enough to challenge a creature they couldn’t hope to defeat even if they gave their lives for it.

What do I do...?! What can I do...?! the mayor thought in a panic, but no answer came to him. If Benetnasch willed it, Aragorn could lop off his head just like he’d decapitated those dragons.

That fear made the mayor reach for the Orb in his pocket when suddenly...

“G-o-t-o-t-h-e-u-n-d-e-r-g-r-o-u-n-d.”

...he heard De Vermis’s voice again.

“...What?” the mayor asked.

“I-t-i-s-a-b-i-t-e-a-r-l-y-b-u-t-w-e-w-i-l-l-p-e-r-f-o-r-m-t-h-e-r-i-t-u-a-l.”

“You can do that?!”

“N-o-t-p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y. N-o-t-e-n-o-u-g-h. B-u-t-i-t-i-s-p-o-s-s-i-b-l-e,” said De Vermis.

This was nothing but good news for the mayor. Even if it wasn’t perfect, gaining some degree of immortality and power would rescue him from his current situation.

Gathering his resolve, he turned back and ran towards his mansion.

“Ah. Wai—”

“I will sever his legs.” Before Benetnasch could tell someone to wait, Aragorn made his move and swung his blade-tail.

It easily sliced off the mayor’s legs...

“OWWAAAHHHHHHH...! AAAHHHHHHHH!”

...but he continued running in spite of that.

“...What?” Aragorn muttered as he watched it happen. The spark in his eye sockets shook, like he couldn’t believe his nonexistent eyes.

No blood came from the mayor’s severed legs. Instead, something deathly white flooded from the wound and quickly assumed the form of replacement legs.

To Benetnasch and Aragorn, the white mass seemed like a swarm of maggots, and the mayor used those maggot-legs to run into the mansion.

Benetnasch watched him disappear inside, his expression a bit darker than before.

“...My friend,” Aragorn said. “That does not seem like the item you seek.”

“...Yeah. Chances are that it isn’t.” Benetnasch let out a tired sigh... It wasn’t an expression of despair, but a slight sense of wasted effort and resignation to an arduous future. This particular endeavor had been for naught, but there were others awaiting him.

“But I should still confirm it, just in case,” Benetnasch added. “And even if it turns out it isn’t what I want, I may still be able to trade it for an Orb with the right power.”

“Truly?”

“I mean, I already got the Orb that turns water into land. If I got one more, I’d have two things I could tra— Necro Aura.” Benetnasch cut his words short and gave Aragorn a stat buff.

The next moment, a melodic engine sound rang out, followed by a rain of artillery.

“RRHHOOAAAGHH!” Aragorn roared as he rushed to cover Benetnasch with his blade-tail.

The sturdy skeleton deflected the shells, and the King of Tartarus didn’t suffer any damage at all.

When the rain of artillery paused, Benetnasch and Aragorn looked up at their attacker high in the sky.

There, they saw a singing, azure Magingear — Blue Opera.

It could only belong to Ace, AR-I-CA the “Blue Sky Songstress” of Sefirot, Caldina’s top clan.

And, indeed, that was exactly who had just attacked him.

“...Honestly, I thought of just watching this play out, but if you’ve got an Orb too, then I can’t possibly ignore you!” AR-I-CA spoke through the machine’s speakers.

Those were AR-I-CA’s honest thoughts at the moment. Her best-case scenario was one where the Orb turned out to be something Benetnasch didn’t want, causing him to leave it behind. She planned to settle things with the mayor after that.

But Benetnasch already had an Orb of his own and was planning to take the mayor’s regardless of its use to him. That made him another target and a competitor.

AR-I-CA herself hadn’t been expecting this fight, but she couldn’t miss this opportunity.

...There’s the Murder Princess too, she thought. If she causes trouble, this guy’ll probably get away. That’ll make it hard to get his Orb. I gotta end this here and now.

She’d decided to defeat Benetnasch, take his Orb, then pursue the mayor and take his.

She also believed that this was her only chance to fight Benetnasch.

“A blue Magingear... Sefirot’s AR-I-CA, right?” Benetnasch said. “I’ve heard...certain rumors.”

“I’ve heard ’bout you too,” AR-I-CA replied. “Like the fact that you always have a pretty purple-haired little Maiden at your side. She hates being in the crest, right? Wait a minuuute. I’m not seeing her anywheeere.”

Her tone casual, she said this before looking around. Benetnasch kept looking up at her, not responding.

“I know ’bout your skills too,” she continued. “You can use your undead-protection skill from any distance, but you need her at your side to use your absolutely broken ult.” Those words made the necromancer’s eyes widen. “So... Let’s dance, shall we? Just the two of us.”

The truth in her statement slightly rattled Benetnasch.

A moment later, Blue Opera resumed its attacks, intent on finishing this while Benetnasch’s Superior Embryo was elsewhere.