Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 20 - Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Cascading Chaos

Armored Pilot, Hugo Lesseps

After leaving the special ballroom, we split up.

Moneygold went to the bridge where the ship was controlled, while Isara went to the cargo area with all the goods it was transporting. Both were important parts of the ship that had to be protected, and the captain on the bridge needed to hear about what had happened in the ballroom and the situation in general.

The rest of us were tasked with getting rid of the remaining enemies on the ship, starting with the commercial area.

Eldrige was actually the one who suggested we go there first. His reasoning for that was that the DLG had used the ship’s information equipment to deliver an announcement, which meant that they had most certainly taken control of the commercial area. That made perfect sense to me, but...

“Hey. What are you hiding?”

...Cyco posed a question to him.

“Cyco?” I said.

“What do you mean?” Eldridge replied.

“You look like you’re in a rush,” Cyco then explained. “It seems like you’ve done something bad and are nervous that someone will find out.”

Eldridge was silent at first. But looking at him, I felt like I could practically see cold sweat going down his neck.

“...One of my clan members is at the mall. I’m anxious to know if there are any problems on her end. Sorry for bringing personal stuff into this.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “You’re not wrong about DLG taking the commercial area.” It didn’t matter that he had his own reasons for suggesting we got there—we had to do it anyway. “Also, it’s normal to be worried about your own,” I added.

“Thanks. That helps,” Eldridge said with a relieved expression.

He really looks out for his clan, huh? What a good leader, I thought.

And with that, we left the hallway and headed into the commercial area.

“And there they are,” said Eldridge. “Get ready!”

We were quickly targeted by one Marshall II—a heavily customized one at that—and nearly ten soldiers. Eldridge instantly swung his right hand, trying to use his Skill to steal the unit, but it didn’t seem to work. Instead, it kept approaching us.

Why? I wondered.

“Looks like it has a high-level anti-theft effect on it,” Eldridge said, answering the question in my mind. “I used Greater Pickpocket twice and it failed both times. It doesn’t just look different than the ones at the ballroom.”

It wasn’t uncommon for Magingears to be equipped with modifications that gave them anti-thievery or anti-burglary skills. However, the very best of these protections from theft cost as much as the Magingear itself, so you’d rarely see mechs with such high-level defenses even in The Triangle of Wisdom. My White Rose and Teach’s Blue Opera were about the only ones that came to mind.

“I guess we gotta destroy that before we can move on,” said Eldridge. I could see a hint of impatience on his face—probably because he was so concerned for his companion in the mall.

“Leave them to me and go on ahead,” I said. “Cyco!”

“Oui, ma’am.” I used Instant Release to remove White Rose from my Inventory and immediately jumped in as Cyco merged with the machine.

“All right,” said Eldridge.

“We’ll leave this to you,” said Niala. “Wait...? ‘Ma’am’?”

With those words, the two of them headed in the opposite direction as our enemies.

After seeing them off, I joined the battle.

“Cyco, how’s La Porte de l’Enfer?”

“Good to go. They’re all in the double digits.”

If both the Marshall II pilot and the infantry had a high enough kill count of other people, this fight would not be a problem for me. I’d already marked Eldridge and Niala as exceptions, and I couldn’t see any other people nearby, so I could use it without worries.

“Reduce the effective range to 50 metels. La Porte de l’Enfer.”

The next moment, all infantry within 50 metels were covered in ice. Some only had it creep into their limbs, while others froze almost completely. A few were lucky enough to avoid getting any ice on them at all, but the situation still threw them off guard.

Those who could retaliate tried to do so, but the bullets from their gunpowder-based firearms were all deflected by White Rose’s Mythical alloy armor.

Unlike guns that used magic, traditional guns had the same amount of firepower regardless of who used them. Personal firearms of this type couldn’t hope to break through White Rose’s defenses.

There was only one foe I needed to worry about.

“The contents of the mech didn’t freeze,” said Cyco.

As if confirming her statement, the custom unit moved to attack us with mobility that was simply impossible for a mech piloted by someone whose body was encased in ice. I’d seen how powerful the DLG’s Magingears were when they’d attacked Moneygold back at the ballroom, and I knew that not even White Rose could withstand it unscathed.

That was why I evaded the attacks instead—I wanted to make sure I didn’t take any direct hits.

“Thirteen seconds.” As long as La Porte de l’Enfer was active, time was on our side. Once thirteen seconds passed, the second tick came, expanding the ice on those who were already Frozen as well as Freezing those who had gotten lucky the first time. Many of them were completely encased in ice now.

Despite this, the custom unit moved just as well as it had before.

“Cyco, what’s the count on the pilot?”

“Probably around 80.”

Failing with an eighty percent chance twice in a row was within the realm of possibility, but this still sent a strange shiver down my spine. I felt like something was off here.

“We’ll fight the normal way,” I said hesitantly.

“Oui, ma’am.”

Whatever the reason was, I felt like La Porte de l’Enfer wouldn’t work here. Instead, I equipped a firearm and an ice blade before charging in to face the custom unit.

And as I did, Moneygold’s words echoed in my head.

“Most powerful skills have flaws. Yours could even have some weaknesses that neither you nor Cyco are aware of.”

◇◆◇

Eltram, Commercial Area

As the siren blared, Fey took anything worthwhile off the sleeping soldiers.

“It’s so damn loud,” she said to herself. The sound had surprised her at first, but nothing new had happened since. She’d even hid herself again, but it didn’t seem that any reinforcements were coming. That was why she’d begun ignoring the siren and looting the soldiers—but by this point the sound was beginning to annoy her.

“Oh yeah.” She then Stole the blaring comms devices, silencing them forcibly by storing them in her Inventory.

“Having some kinda comms thing sure wouldn’t hurt,” she said. “Heh heh heh. I’m bein’ a real MVP here! The leader’s gonna love this—and me! My chubby belly won’t matter at all!”

Fey put on a bright smile and pumped her fist in the air victoriously—until a desert-customized Marshall II hovered into her line of sight.

“Whaa?! But I did a perfect job! Wait, is this because of what I did with those sirens?”

“This is where the comms were cut!” The Magingear’s pilot said. It turned out that the enemy had been using the comms devices to track their allies, and upon realizing that the markers here had vanished, someone had rushed to the scene. And of course, it was all because Fey put the devices in her Inventory—so much for her perfect job.

Oh. This ain’t good, Fey thought. This wasn’t an enemy Fey could handle. Her build was AGI and DEX focused, and the dagger debuffs she used in combat couldn’t break through thick carapaces or armor. She could try to run, but based on the speed with which the Marshall II had appeared, it had to be faster than her. Likely whoever was controlling it had the Gale Pilot job.

On top of that, Magingears were far too big to be taken using Steal. The only reason Eldridge could do it was because he had access to Greater Pickpocket—a King of Burglary skill.

Wh-Wh-Wh-What do I do?! O-Oh yeah! Feeling cornered, Fey quickly bent down and picked up one of the soldiers affected by Forced Sleep.

“You better not attack me if you value his life!” she cried, placing her dagger against the soldier’s neck.

It was truly the act of a lowly scoundrel.

Heh heh heh. This should bring that pilot to a stop and...huh?!

The Marshall II stopped moving only for a second before training its gun on her.

“I’m holding your friend here! Don’t you see?!” Fey insisted.

“A proud army man would rather die than be taken prisoner by men who fight dishonorably!”

“Hey, you shouldn’t cut off your people so easily! And I’m not a man!” Her villainous tactic failed spectacularly, and the pilot was about to fire at both Fey and the soldier when...

“Kill your own people all you want...but I won’t let you kill mine.”

...a voice rang out from behind the Marshall II unit—which then vanished.

“What?” The pilot was completely unable to process the situation.

“You’re wide open now!” said Fey as she showered the unlucky pilot with debuff attacks, putting Forced Sleep on him just as she’d done to his allies.

When it was all over, Fey started to cheer. “Woo-hoo! Justice wins again!”

“Justice? We’re a bandit clan... Anyway, I’m glad I made it in time.”

Those words made her turn around to see Eldridge—the very person who’d just stolen the Marshall II and saved Fey.

“Leader! I wanted to see you so bad! I was sooo scared!” she said, taking the chance to leap into his embrace.

“I won’t allow that.”

Niala, however, intervened.

“...Oh. Niala. I wanted to see you too.”

“That isn’t the reaction you gave him,” Niala said. “I do understand it, though.”

They sure get along, Eldridge thought as he watched his clanmates.

“Anyway, Fey,” he said. “Now that I know you’re safe, I’d like to ask you something.”

“My favorite foods are hot dogs with lots and lots of sauerkraut!”

“Not that,” Eldridge said, and Niala merely smacked Fey on the head. “Did the siren go off before or after you did something?”

“Uhh...” He’s gonna get mad at me if I tell the truth! Fey thought. Even she could figure out that much.

“Let me rephrase the question,” said Eldridge, glancing at the soldiers lying on the floor. “Are they the ones who activated the siren?”

“No, they’re not! I took them out silently!” she said, speaking quickly as though she was seizing a chance to prove her innocence.

“I see. That means we should get away with it...hm?”

As Fey’s words filled Eldridge with relief, he noticed a change in the surface he was standing on.

The ship just shook... Did its speed change? As he wondered what had happened, Eldridge heard heavy footsteps approaching them.

“Eldridge. Is everything okay here?”

The footsteps belonged to a pure-white Magingear—Hugo’s White Rose.

“Ah! Leader! Another one! Take it!”

“No. That one’s our ally for now.”

Eldridge’s words confused Fey, so Niala pulled her to the side for an explanation of the events that had led up to this moment, while Hugo and Eldridge had an exchange of their own.

“Sorry for leaving you back there,” said Eldridge.

“It’s fine. You had to hurry to find your clan member.”

“Yeah, and I only made it in time thanks to you. Though, uh...” Eldridge instantly noticed the state White Rose was in. The frame was still untouched, but the surface armor was damaged here and there. He could tell it hadn’t been caused by infantry firearms, but by Marshall II weapons. “Did La Porte de l’Enfer not work on it?”

Hugo had told him about this skill back when he registered them as exceptions. It delivered a Freeze effect that grew stronger the more of their own kind the target had killed, with a guaranteed full body Freeze when the number was 100 or above. Eldridge assumed that it would be quite effective on career soldiers who’d been through a civil war, so he didn’t expect Hugo to have this much trouble with them.

“Actually...there’s something I want to ask about that.”

◇◇◇

Armored Pilot, Hugo Lesseps

The battle ended shortly after I chose to actually fight.

That was because the pilot of the custom unit actually Froze not long after the battle began.

It was on either the fourth or the fifth tick. As we were dealing damage to each other, 80% of the pilot’s body Froze, making piloting impossible, and then the next tick Froze the rest. The most obvious conclusion would be that the pilot was just lucky enough to avoid Freezing until then, but I—Hugo Lesseps—was convinced there must be more to this.

I felt that there must’ve been something that had blocked La Porte de l’Enfer.

That was why I showed Eldridge the custom unit I’d fought. “What do you think?”

The Frozen Pilot had already been removed from it and placed next to the infantry that had turned to ice first. I imagined that I’d have to unfreeze them once we handed them to the authorities.

“This mech’s got the highest quality anti-theft defenses,” said Eldridge. “And way more comms equipment than I’d expect.”

“Comms?”

“My guess is that this is the source of the jamming, and it probably also hosts their whole comms network.” The commercial area was close to the middle of the ship, so it must’ve been the most effective place to set up a comms bypass. It played an invaluable role in coordinating the DLG, and that explained why it was equipped with an anti-theft skill.

However, we still didn’t know why the pilot didn’t Freeze when I used La Porte de l’Enfer. Anti-theft, comms jamming, and comms hosting—none of this seemed like anything that would affect my skill.

“Did you use the skill on Magingears before?” Eldridge asked.

“A number of times during tests with the clan.” If I recalled correctly, that had been part of an experiment led by Fran. I was put up against duel rankers from our clan, and the skill Froze them just fine.

Looking back, it was probably a test to see if it would work on Gideon’s duel rankers too.

“Then it has to come down to some difference between then and now.”

“Well, that thing’s just different, right?” said Eldridge’s clan member—Fey—as she knocked on the custom unit’s chest armor. “It’s nothin’ like the Marshall IIs I saw on the internet. The color is different and uhh...yeah, it’s just real different.”

“Looks like they spent lots of money redesigning it for deserts,” said Eldridge. “That’s good for our purposes.”

“You know so much!”

“I just did my research on what I was gonna take. That’s all there is to it.”

“But how did they modify it this much?” Niala asked. “They’re just soldiers who escaped their country, aren’t they?”

“They’re a bit more than that, Niala,” said Eldridge with a shake of his head. “They’re deserters, sure, but they’re also the First Armored Battalion. Aside from the SMTF with all their super special abilities and lore, they are Dryfe’s most elite soldiers. They’ve been handling, repairing, and modifying Magingears for a long time. When it comes to the power suits and tanks, they’re actually better at it than The Triangle of Wisdom. It’s really no surprise that they can customize their units to better suit a different environment.”

“...I see.”

“Since my Greater Pickpocket didn’t work, I would’ve had tons of trouble with it myself. I don’t think I can aim for a Greater Takeover without breaking the armor.”

Eldridge touched the custom unit’s chest-armor exactly as Fey had done.

“By the way, Hugo,” Eldridge said, pointing at what looked like a crack in the armor. “Did you cause this?”

“Yes. With this blade,” Hugo said.

“Did the pilot freeze before or after you made this crack?”

“Huh? I think it was...after.”

“Ah...I guess that must be the reason it didn’t work before,” Eldridge said as he began fiddling with the unit.

“Have you figured it out?” I asked.

“Yeah. The damage made all the difference. Figure out yourself what that means—you gotta examine your own abilities as best as you can. It’s important to have a good grasp of them and not just do things haphazardly. That’s what separates the first-rate from the second-rate.”

“Wow, you’re so right!” said Fey.

“You...know you use your skills more haphazardly than anyone in the clan, right?” said Niala.

“I’d say that’s part of what makes her Fey,” Eldridge commented. “Embryo traits are based on their users, after all...ah, there we go.”

As he talked, Eldridge removed a part of the custom unit—the part responsible for the anti-theft effect.

“Can I have this?” Eldridge asked, and after I gave him a nod, he thanked me and took the unit.

“Anyway, that’s the commercial area cleaned up,” he continued. “Should we go to the passenger cabin next?”

“Ah! Oh yeah—I just remembered.” Fey suddenly raised her voice. “There was a huge, golden, strong-lookin’ Magingear that ran by here recently! I made No. 1 follow it, so I know where it is!”

A large golden Magingear? I thought. Could that be...?

“Where is it now?”

“Umm...” Fey groaned, poking her temple in an attempt to focus before pointing diagonally down. “Over there!”

“That’s...the power block?” I asked.

“Unless the mech’s gotten off the ship, yeah,” said Eldridge. “And this is just my guess, but that unit is probably the head of the DLG. I heard that they’re led by a Magingear that looks like that.”

“Should we go find it?” Niala asked.

“I’d like to meet up with Moneygold first. It probably has anti-theft measures on it, so I doubt we could handle it by ourselves.”

I nodded to that. It was possible that La Porte de l’Enfer wouldn’t work on it, just like it didn’t work on the custom unit.

“The cause of the jamming is gone now, so maybe you can contact him?” Eldridge asked.

“I’ll try,” I said as I activated the comms device Moneygold had given me.

“Hugo?” Moneygold instantly replied. His voice was clear and there didn’t seem to be any problems with the device.

“Yes,” I said. “We’re in the commercial area and we just took care of the unit that was causing the jamming. Also, Eldridge’s clan member said that the leader of the DLG went to the power block.”

“All right, I see. On my end, I retook control of the bridge. The staff are all safe too. The energy core was deactivated, and the ship’s running on residual magic. It’ll soon slow to a halt.”

“Ohh, that explains the change in speed,” Eldridge said as he listened.

“Did the DLG deactivate it?” I asked.

“That’s the natural conclusion...but it’s strange how they went through the deactivation process so quickly. It’s as if they knew exactly what to do to turn it off.”

“That’s true,” said Eldridge. “Maybe it’s just because they’re Dryfean? Regardless, I’ll go there and—what?”

Suddenly, I heard panicked voices on the other side as well as the sound of an explosion, which was followed by an explosion I heard not through the comms device, but with my own ears.

“What...?!”

“The first escort ship was sunk!”

“The second one has been hit!” The people on the bridge were reporting the situation. They must’ve been talking about the escort ships meant to protect Eltram from monsters and the like.

“Forget what I said,” said Moneygold. “I can’t go there now. Try handling it yourselves.”

“Moneygold?” I asked. We couldn’t see outside from the commercial area, so we didn’t know what was happening.

“The second escort ship’s damage is spreading... It sunk!”

“The third one was hit!”

“An unidentified entity is approaching from the horizon at four o’clock!”

But those words I heard over the comms told us that the situation wasn’t good...

“I-It’s a dragon! A mechanical dragon is attacking the escort ships...!”

...and that furthermore, it was about to change drastically.

◆◆◆

Five Minutes Ago, Twenty Kilometels Southwest From Eltram

A crimson and white mechdragon rushed over the sands, veiled by night.

In its cockpit, there was a man and a woman. The man was The Weapon, Rascal the Bloodonyx. The woman was the goofy maid merged with his Embryo, as well as the creator of this unit—Machina.

“Master! We’re about to reach Eltram!”

“We’re here...faster than...I expected...” said Rascal, clutching his hand to his chest. He was doing that because his ribs were cracking—the price he paid for moving at supersonic speeds, which he hadn’t planned on doing. When their comms link with Zhang on Eltram were cut, Machina had said, “Oh! It’s an emergency! We gotta hurry!” and then pushed the mechdragon to break the sound barrier so they could make it there faster.

This had the unfortunate side effect of damaging Rascal’s bones.

They’d originally planned to move at a speed he could handle, so after such a massive boost, it was no wonder they’d made it here so quickly.

“Rascal.” As the unit slightly slowed down and Rascal administered a high quality Potion to heal himself, he heard a voice over his comms device. That voice belonged to Zhang.

“Zhang? Did comms recover?”

“Yes. I believe the cause of the jamming was eliminated by the ship’s forces.”

“I see. What’s the current status?”

“Dryfe’s Legitimate Government has taken control of the ship, but the special ballroom with all the VIPs was liberated by the Superior, Moneygold, and those working with him. They’re currently eliminating the rest.”

Just as they’d planned, there was a conflict in place that they could use as a chance to analyze the combatants involved. The conflict had nothing to do with the Orb, though, so it hadn’t gone exactly as they were expecting.

“Emily, however...”

“Did somethin’ happen to her?”

“She sees the DLG as enemies and is traveling the ship to eliminate them. Normally, she would have recovered from her kill state already, but it does not seem to be happening.”

“I see.”

Usually, Emily would return to normal the moment all the enemies in her immediate area were gone. But now she was wandering around and looking for more foes.

This was a definite increase in her combat capabilities, but it was hardly something Rascal wanted to celebrate.

Did her illness get worse? In that case, should I tell the hospital to take off her headset? But that would count as a Suicide in-game, though. It won’t help our overall plans if she goes to the gaol, Rascal thought to himself. If she hasn’t overcome this yet, it’s not a good idea to stop her.

“Rascal?” the voice over the comms asked.

“All right, I get the sitch. Just leave Emily like that for now. I’ll come pick her up later.”

“Very well,” said Zhang. “Also...there is something else I feel I should say.”

He then proceeded to tell Rascal how Emily had entrusted Doris to him.

“Emily asked you to protect the girl while still in her combat state, huh?” Hearing that just made Rascal lose himself in thought once again.

The fact that she’s seeking out enemies makes it seem like she’s gotten worse, but this actually looks like an overall improvement. But...then again, is it really? It’s hard to tell. I should probably bring it up with her doctor later...but regardless, we should secure the girl.

“Zhang, keep the girl safe,” Rascal said. “You can even prioritize her over Emily—I’m sure Emily will be just fine no matter the situation. She’a got the gear for it now.”

“Very well.” With that order sent, Rascal switched off the comms device.

As if she’d been waiting for that to happen, Machina spoke up.

“Master, we have a teeny bit of a problem.”

“I don’t exactly wanna hear it, but I will.”

“Umm, Eltram’s power has been cut. The source is probably being removed...”

“Shit,” Rascal spat out a swear word he didn’t often employ, his face twisting in annoyance “So that’s what they’re after, not the Orb. Someone’s already laid claim to it, huh...? Damn it. Now we’ve got no choice but to charge in right away. There’s no time to observe the situation.”

“Uhhh...why?”

“Imagine if the DLG got their hands on that energy core. It’ll be enough of a pain if they manage to get away with it, but what if Moneygold defeats them before they can escape? Sefirot will have that core all to themselves, and they’ll be able to make Eltram’s owners believe that it was taken by the DLG.”

“That...sounds pretty crooked.”

“And there’s a certain someone with them who can do that without thinkin’ anythin’ of it,” Rascal said, picturing a face known by almost everyone in Caldina—the president. That mental image made him frown like he’d just tasted something bitter. “That’s why we gotta take it or break it before that happens...” After a deep sigh, he looked ahead. “Machina, get ready for a preemptive strike.”

“Aye-aye, sir! Sardonyx is ready to go!”

Rascal’s order received an answer from both Machina and Sardonyx—the landdragon-type Prism Dragon redesigned and freshly manufactured in the modern era. The hum of its energy cores echoed through the desert like a roar.

“Shift from Cannon Cruiser to Over Sniper form,” Rascal ordered. “We’ll use the Horizon Arch.”

“Oh! This is the first time we’ll be using the main cannon since the test! You got it! That ship’s a total goner!”

“Stop. Only target the escort vessels. Emily and Zhang are still on Eltram.”

“Aye-aye, sir!” Machina began to enter commands on the keyboard before her at incredible speeds.

That caused Sardonyx to transform.

It still had the shape of a wingless dragon, but its neck was beginning to grow. Eventually it was so long and straight that when the dragon opened its mouth, its overall shape was reminiscent of a rifle.

“Shift complete! Launching survey buoy!”

The back of the transformed Sardonyx released a single missile as though it was a signal flare. Once it reached a certain height, the missile jettisoned its casing and became a sensor floating in place, overlooking a vast area and sending the gathered optical data back to Sardonyx.

“We have visuals. There are two escort vessels facing our direction...oh, wait, three if we really try for it.”

“Destroy them all. Knowing what’ll happen later, it won’t hurt to lower their numbers.”

“Aye-aye, sir. I’ll fix the sights...there we go.”

After she said that, her seat began to transform. It turned around, going from a chairlike shape to a horizontal one. It was as though the rear seat became a mat spread out right above Rascal’s head. Machina lay down on it and took hold of a device that came down from somewhere above the cockpit. This device functioned as both a trigger and a sighting device linked to the unit’s camera-eye.

She looked through it, but there was nothing beyond it but the desert.

That was what she was expecting—Eltram was still beyond the horizon, after all. It was impossible to physically spot it yet. And considering that it was completely obscured, sniping it from this distance was an absurd idea.

However, the eye Machina used on the sighting device was certainly looking at something.

“The visual info we got from above is... The current location of the unit... The height of the dunes... The current location of the target...mhm. It all checks out.” Machina gathered the visual data from the survey buoy above, as well as the data observed by the camera-eye, then ran them through her internal processor to calculate her aim.

“And here’s...the first shot!”

The moment she said that, Sardonyx’s angled cannon-maw released its first shell.

It flew slightly upward at several times the speed of sound. Eventually, when it was at a certain point in the sky, the explosives set on the shell went off, changing its trajectory so that it rocketed downward—straight toward the bridge of the first escort vessel.

“It hit!”

“Beautiful. Is that what you wanna hear?”

“Eh heh heh heh! Say it again!”

“Hurry up and keep firin’.”

“Hey, you could show me some more love, you know!” Machina whined, but she still sounded somewhat happy as she fired the second shot and hit the second vessel.

Horizon Arch—the most unique among Sardonyx’s weapons, it was Machina’s design for a long-range sniper cannon. Its direct line of fire had a radius of 50 kilometels—an incredible range matching that of a rail gun. On top of that, the shells it fired had explosives attached to them that could be detonated at a preset time to change the shell’s trajectory.

However, that was only possible in a hypothetical best-case scenario. The shell would never hit if it wasn’t fired from the right angle at an invisible target, and both the initial firing and the explosives needed to be timed perfectly. Even rail guns from Earth, despite all the fanfare regarding their range, weren’t actually all that accurate.

However, if fired by Machina a hundred times, all one hundred shells would strike their target.

The aiming angle, the moment at which the trigger was pulled, the timer on the explosives—she calculated all of that herself, and she did so without fault. Her processing power nearly defied belief.

This wasn’t so strange for her, though. She was the eldest Prism Person—the DEX-focused Agate Designer often lauded as the pinnacle of them all.

Deactivated two thousand years ago, she’d been picked up by Rascal in one of the Ruins and given new life through a connection to his Superior Embryo—Deus Ex Machina.

And despite all the intervening years, her design skill hadn’t dulled, and her handling prowess hadn’t degraded one bit.

“The second ship sank. And I hit the third one too. Oh—the cannon’s starting to feel the burn.”

As a gunpowder weapon with such an incredible range, it suffered immense heat damage every few shots. Extended use of it would eventually cause it to break midshot, greatly damaging the unit itself.

“All right. I’ll fix it up,” Rascal said, touching the armrest of his chair and using a skill. “Rewind Weapon.”

With those words, a light washed over Sardonyx.

And when it subsided, the cannon that had been overheating a moment before cooled down—and it didn’t have a single scratch on it, as if it had never been fired at all.

This was Rascal’s skill as The Weapon.

“That blows my mind no matter how many times I see it!”

“I’m just usin’ what I’ve got.” The Weapon was a Superior Job specialized in the operation of weaponry, and the focus of its skills could be summarized in two words: restoration magic.

In other words, it was a Superior Job that could use healing magic on machines.

While Mechanics and the like focused on skills that enabled faster repairs through the replacement of broken parts, The Weapon fixed damaged machines magically.

Its abilities could accurately be characterized as “repair magic.” It couldn’t heal what was completely lost—such as Machina’s left arm—but it could take care of dents and cracks in existing parts, as well as instantly tune and stabilize any machines with damaged software that were experiencing critical errors.

This meant that as long as Rascal was riding Sardonyx, neither physical damage nor software failure could break it down.

That was the main reason he was riding it even though he risked breaking more bones in the process.

In fact, this unit was so unbalanced that it would likely be destroyed without Rascal’s care.

“The Weapons of the past couldn’t use it as well as you do, though!” Machina said.

The Weapon’s repair magic was premised on—in fact, it necessitated—the user knowing the full structure of the target machine. But that wasn’t a problem. Even if Rascal himself didn’t know it, his other half—the Superior Embryo, Deus Ex Machina—did. It was because of this Embryo’s ability to grasp the structure of any machine it connected with that Rascal was able to become The Weapon in the first place.

The Weapon, The Earth...it wasn’t that uncommon for Masters to fulfill the conditions for the The One series of jobs using their Embryos rather than mastery of their own skills as intended. In fact, Masters who achieved it through pure technical prowess—such as The Unsheath, Kashimiya—were the rarity here.

“And...boom! There goes the third one!”

“Shift back to Cannon Cruiser form. We’ll get into Eltram and head to the power block.”

“Aye-aye, sir!” Sardonyx’s extended cannon was retracted, Machina’s seat returned to normal, and the unit began charging toward the now-undefended ship.

“By the way...” said Machina.

“What?”

“There’s no way Zhang and Emily are on the bridge, right?”

Rascal instantly understood what she was trying to say.

“Fire.”

“Aye-aye, sir!”

Rascal’s one word was enough for Sardonyx’s draconic maw to open up again. It was in a short-barreled mobile firing mode rather than long-range sniping mode, but Machina once again used Horizon Arch. Though the target wasn’t obscured by the horizon anymore, she still activated the skill while Sardonyx was moving at high speeds.

That was not a problem, however. Just like she hadn’t missed the Magingears in Lieutenant Colonel Berlin’s squad during the test, she didn’t miss Eltram’s bridge.

“A hit...huh?” Despite the clean hit, Machina looked puzzled.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it just didn’t deal as much damage as I—evasive maneuvers!” Before she could finish her sentence, she grabbed and pushed the control column to make the unit dodge to the side.

The intense g-force once again jostled Rascal’s body, making his bones creak and blood start to spill from his mouth.

However, he wouldn’t complain about that—a large shining projectile passed right through the space Sardonyx was occupying just a moment ago.

“Treasure Cannon! It’s Moneygold!” The familiar attack allowed him to instantly understand the situation. “So he’s at the bridge. I guess he used himself as a barrier to prevent a direct hit.”

“What do we do now?” Machina asked.

As they talked, multiple shining projectiles worth hundreds of millions flew toward them. Machina had the piloting technique to evade them, but the attacks left many new craters in the patches of desert where they landed. It was clear what would happen if one of the shots were to hit its target.

“Don’t waste our ammo,” said Rascal. “Our attacks won’t work on him when that skill’s active. Other than that, this doesn’t change our plans. Advance. Treat this like an action game instead of a shootin’ game. Look for openings in his attacks and use them to approach the ship. He won’t be able to attack that freely once we’re in.”

Sardonyx was far tougher than the common Marshall II—in fact, it wasn’t even a fair comparison. The firepower needed to destroy it was naturally far greater, and if Moneygold unleashed that much devastation inside Eltram, the consequences would be dire.

“It’s gonna require some intense movements to get close... Are you sure you can handle it?” Machina asked, worried about her frail Master.

“I’m pretty sure I just told you to ‘advance,’” he replied through the blood in his mouth, clearly indicating that she should keep going.

“...Aye-aye, sir!”

That was all that had to be said. Machina obeyed the will of her owner and drove Sardonyx straight into the deadly bullet hell.

◇◇◇

Eltram, Commercial Area

Vibrations shook from the bridge, followed by quakes from the desert in the distance.

The situation moved fast, and Eldridge responded just as quickly.

“Niala,” he said. “The owl.”

“Right away.” Niala held up her left hand, which shone brightly. This was followed by six blue windows appearing around her. She touched one of them, causing a single mechanical owl to fly out of its other side.

At the same time, Eldridge stole a part of the wall with his skill, letting the owl fly outside.

A moment later, the window the owl had just exited began to display what was outside the ship’s walls.

This was Niala’s Embryo—Type Legion, Winged Omnipotence, Simurgh. It was an avian Type Legion with many uses based on which bird the user called forth. There was the survey-focused Spotter Owl that Niala had just used, the Group Crow for causing distraction and confusion, the Message Pigeon meant to deliver messages, the Cargo Pelican for transport, the Fighting Falcon for air battles, and the Genocide Condor meant for wide-scale destruction.

However, despite being a Type Legion, they relied on Niala herself to give them commands and control them, and her ability to do so limited the number of birds she could employ at once. Because of that, she usually used the owl by itself to survey the enemy’s location before sniping them.

This didn’t affect her ability to control multiple birds at once, but activating the ones with high combat ability incurred high external costs, so her recent financial state was another reason she rarely used them.

“This...looks like a battle,” Niala said, perplexed, as she looked at the owl’s window.

There was a mechanical dragon approaching the ship, and countless shining projectiles fired from the bridge were trying to stop it. The projectiles caused immense destruction where they landed—a single hit would be enough to sink the ship.

However, they were familiar with this sight.

“I guess a new attacker appeared, and Moneygold’s trying to fend them off,” said Eldridge. He figured that the attacker was a Superior too, but he wasn’t sure about that, so he didn’t say it out loud. The fact that Moneygold was having trouble with these new foes seemed like enough proof.

Another Superior...now I can’t say we’re safe even though we’re with Moneygold. Even if we ignore that new one, there’s still two others, and one of them’s the damn Murder Princess... I thought I’d finally succeeded at a job, and now this happens! Maybe we should look for a chance to pull out.

Eldridge was scared of what would happen if he ended the alliance with Moneygold and ran away, but he certainly didn’t want to fight and lose against yet another Superior either.

The head of the DLG down in the power block supposedly has the most valuable mech of them all, though. I can’t lie—I’d like to get my hands on it. Acquiring just that unit would make their profits from this venture skyrocket.

Now Eldridge wasn’t sure whether to retreat or advance.

“Little lady?! What’s wrong?! You’re all bloody!”

That was when he heard Fey’s worried voice. He looked over to see her approach a little girl in a bloodstained dress.

The girl had a crest on her left hand, making it clear she was a Master. It looked like she’d come from the passenger cabins. Niala and Eldridge both were so focused on the visuals projected by the owl that they’d failed to notice her approach.

At first glance she looked like a victim of the DLG. But a moment later, Eldridge realized what immense danger they were in.

It was because her face and crest were on his personal mental blacklist.

“Leader! She’s all hurt—”

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Eldridge and Hugo shouted at the exact same time.

“Huh?”

However, before Fey could react to the warning...

The girl recognized her as an “enemy” who’d obstructed her path.

“...Minus.”

And with that one word, the Murder Princess, Emily, sliced diagonally at Fey’s torso.

◇◇◇

Armored Pilot, Hugo Lesseps

I watched as her slender body collapsed to the floor, an enormous amount of blood and viscera gushing out from the wound.

“Cyco!”

“Oui, ma’am.”

I quickly did what I had to do—the reason I was on this ship in the first place. The reservations I had regarding Emily had no place in this desperate moment.

Just like during the final attack in Gideon, my body followed my will and moved without hesitation.

“La Porte de l’Enfer!” I jumped into White Rose again and instantly activated my skill.

And just like she had in Cortana, Emily Froze in but a moment. There were no failures like with the DLG’s custom unit—she was instantly encased in ice.

“And now...!” I did the same thing as I had in Cortana. Using Boucliers Planete, I trapped the ice sculpture, preventing it from being destroyed by her own axes. I’d done this before, and I could do it again.

The moment that thought passed through my mind, her left shoulder began to shine and she dissolved into motes of light.

“Huh?” The bewilderment made my mind go blank, but it did not last for long...

“Minus.”

...for Emily was immediately reconstituted and attacked me with her axes.

“Wha—?!” I activated the unit’s defense skills at full capacity and assumed a defensive stance. The Murder Princess’s attacks seemed heavier than they had in Cortana, and they echoed throughout the cockpit.

This weight of her attacks was the weight of all the lives she took. It was the same thing that let La Porte de l’Enfer trap her in ice, and yet...!

“Second tick.”

Thirteen seconds had passed, and with those words from Cyco, Emily Froze again.

However, yet again, her left shoulder shone, she turned into bits of light, and was reconstituted.

“No way...!” I’d anticipated something like this. I’d considered the possibility that she—or whatever allies she had—would create a countermeasure for this specific strategy that had once defeated her.

But I never expected...

“Every time she freezes...she dies,” Cyco says.

I never thought that she would die whenever she got a debuff.

It wasn’t a skill. She already had a Superior Embryo, so I doubted that she could gain new Embryo skills, and I couldn’t imagine any job would have such a terrible utility skill.

This was probably caused by a piece of equipment that stopped all bodily function in reaction to binding and curse debuffs.

It was an awful item that normally would never see any use. Debuffs were a problem, but they weren’t nearly as bad as dying.

But for Emily, it was the other way around. Just dying once was better than being sealed up for a long period of time.

But I wouldn’t have expected her to actually come up with something like that.

“Ngh!” Moneygold had hired me to deal with Emily, so this situation was really bad for me. Every thirteen seconds, I Froze her, killing her once.

But I couldn’t even imagine how many times she could revive. She would defeat me long before I could stop her.

There was also the problem with White Rose’s operating time, which was far worse for me than it had been in Cortana.

“Still...I can’t let her do as she pleases.” Where would she go if she got past this mall? Would she head to the bridge and attack Moneygold while he was fighting the threat outside? Would she head to the special ballroom and slaughter the people there?

Regardless of where she went, someone would die. Emily would slaughter someone once again.

“That’s why we have to stop her here!”

“Oui, ma’am.”

◇◆◇

Eltram, Commercial Area

“Fey...” After Fey fell to the floor, Eldridge rushed over and picked her up.

“Fey! Are you okay?!” Niala also dropped her composed expression, pulled out some healing items, and tried using them on her clanmate.

Fey’s HP, however, continued to fall. She’d already lost a great amount of blood, and some of her internal organs had spilled out of her body. A high-rank job from the priest grouping would be the minimum necessary to save her now.

Her breathing ragged, Fey looked down at herself.

“My dress is torn... Everyone can see my boobs...how embarrassing.”

“Fey, this is really not the time...” said Niala.

Fey chuckled lightly before somehow forcing her stiffening face muscles into a smile. Then, she looked at Eldridge, still holding her.

“I’m in his arms... That’s one good thing about this. You jealous, Niala...?”

“Ugh, you’re so...!”

Fey didn’t see this as a touching goodbye. Unlike tians, Masters were immortal. Fey would come back the moment her death penalty expired.

“Oh, but...it’s a shame... I wanted to dance with you at the ball,” Fey said, looking at Eldridge. Despite her satisfaction with the situation, Fey hadn’t gotten the one thing she actually wanted.

The fact that he couldn’t even manage something that small for a girl who had always stood by him even at his lowest filled Eldridge with self-loathing.

“Hey,” Fey said as she looked at him, smiling despite it all. It turned out she had one more request for him. “I want you to win.”

“Win...?”

“I want you to win against her.”

Eldridge instantly understood who she was referring to—Murder Princess Emily, the one who had given her this fatal injury. She was the owner of a Superior Embryo that made her immortal, powerful even by Superior standards, and wasn’t remotely less dangerous than any of the Superiors who had already defeated Eldridge in the past. “But I...”

Because of that, he had doubts he could manage it—but Fey had none.

“You’re strong...” She gave her beloved a natural smile. “We believe that not even Superiors can beat you.”

With those words, Fey encouraged him to fight.

Eldridge was left speechless. Searching for how to respond, he looked down at Fey, then up at Niala—but both of them only gave him a trusting nod.

At that sight, Eldridge gasped as he recalled how even after Goblin Street’s first major defeat by Lei-Lei the Prodigal of Feasts, the two girls had still believed that not even a Superior could beat them if their leader had been there.

However, they continued to lose to Superiors even when he was present, so the members of their clan gave up hope and left one after another.

But there were two left who believed in him even now: Fey and Niala.

Even though one of them was about to vanish, they both continued to trust that Eldridge could win even against a Superior. It was a simpleminded, pure, heartfelt belief that stayed alive despite it all.

And now, Eldridge could feel it clearly.

He then took a moment to think. The thing that he was scared of the most right now was another defeat by a Superior. He was afraid that if it happened again, even Fey and Niala would lose faith in him and leave.

But at this moment, he came to understand something important.

These two had stayed with him even when he lost, and kept on believing in him no matter how many defeats he suffered.

And that meant this was no time to let them see the side of him that was terrified of Superiors.

“Do your best...my leader.” With those final words to her beloved, Fey dissolved into light.

“...Yeah.”

Eldridge watched her vanish and let her final words echo within him. Once her motes of light were gone, he stood up.

Then he looked toward Hugo and Emily’s battle...

“Hugo...we’re switching.”

...and made a proclamation before swinging both his hands around.

A moment later, blood gushed out of Emily’s now-torn neck, making her back away. At the exact same time, another La Porte de l’Enfer tick activated, freezing her right as she reached for her throat.

Her left side began to shine and she transformed into light before being restored to life, but she had stopped in place for a moment.

“Niala. The falcon. Bury her.”

“Roger that!” Following Eldridge’s order, Niala summoned Simurgh’s fastest combat unit—the Fighting Falcon, which was shaped like a fighter jet. The mechanical falcon flew toward the ceiling right above Emily and crashed into it.

The ceiling collapsed and buried Emily’s frozen form. Even if she revived now, she would still need some time to get out of the rubble.

Eldridge used this time to tell Hugo everything he needed to know.

“Looks like they countered your La Porte de l’Enfer. I’ll handle her, then. You go to the power block.”

“But if we just take away the item that counters La Porte de l’Enfer...” I could freezelock her again, Hugo almost said, but Eldridge shook his head before he could finish his sentence.

Eldridge knew exactly what Hugo was trying to say, but that was also how he knew that Hugo’s proposal was impossible.

“That won’t happen. We can’t steal that item,” Eldridge said, intently watching the rubble Emily was buried under. “Notice how the light that shines before she dies always emanates from different parts of her body? And there’s never any noticeable gear in any of those places. That probably means the item skill is triggered under her skin.”

Even while saying goodbye to Fey, Eldridge had paid enough attention to Emily to notice such details.

“What do you mean?”

“My guess is that the item is inside her—in her blood. And since I can’t see it, not even I can target and take it.”

“Inside...?!”

“Either someone injected a super tiny accessory into her, or they gave her a different item with an effect that allowed this one to enter her body. Whichever it was, it was done pretty thoroughly. Whoever set this up countered my abilities so well that I feel like they have to know someone who’s also really good at stealing gear. I’m surprised they could even create something like this, but this is Infinite Dendrogram, after all. Nothing’s impossible.”

The item in question was called Euthanasia.

Developed by Machina—also known as Agate Designer, one of the greatest item creators of the pre-ancient civilization—it was a tiny accessory that flowed in the blood.

The purpose of the small size, just as Eldridge had suspected, was to counter theft—a feature based on the abilities of King of Thieves, whom the creator was familiar with. Referencing the skills of that specific Superior Job, Machina designed the item to activate an instadeath effect when the item was equipped and when the wearer fell under the effect of a binding-type debuff.

Though she was unable to include a feature that would hide the sign of its activation, that was largely irrelevant—destroying or stealing it was practically impossible.

That was the piece of gear Emily had been given to prevent any more unexpected defeats like the one she had suffered in Cortana.

“Maybe things would be different if we could incinerate her without leaving a trace, but as far as I can tell, her other gear gives resistance to those kinds of attacks.” Eldridge had seen a recording of the battle at Cortana and knew that she barely burned even when hit by a Crimson Sphere.

“That’s why there’s no chance you can get rid of the item and take care of her afterward. Give up.”

“But...”

“I’ll say it again: go to the power block. Your La Porte de l’Enfer should be more useful there. Maybe it won’t work at first for the same reason it didn’t work on the last Magingear, but I know you can figure that out and take care of the problem.”

Eldridge told Hugo to give up on Emily...

“Leave the Murder Princess to me.”

...and once again declared in no uncertain terms that he would fight the Superior.

He’d been avoiding this battle at first, but he was no longer afraid.

“I won’t make any big speeches about ‘avenging Fey’ or whatever. I’ll be seeing her in three days anyway.”

Masters were immortal. Though most couldn’t come back as quickly as Emily, they could log in once again once their death penalty expired, which was only three days in Infinite Dendrogram.

“But that doesn’t mean I’m not mad about her getting killed,” Eldridge went on. Despite his anger, his hands weren’t clenched into fists. His combat-ready stance called for him to keep his hands open—and that was his real expression of rage.

“I couldn’t even fulfill that tiny little wish she had. That makes me mad—at myself and at the Murder Princess...and this anger needs an outlet.”

“Eldridge...”

“And if they believe I can win, then I gotta live up to their expectations.”

There was just one last thing Hugo had to ask before giving this battle to Eldridge.

“Can you win?” A Superior and a pre-Superior—the gap between the two was obvious. It was so vast that Marie Adler had been dubbed the “Superior Killer” for merely defeating a single Superior with no aid from anyone else.

Eldridge himself knew well how powerful they were. People who’d been defeated by Superiors as many times as him were rare.

Despite knowing all that, he...

“I have a...seventy percent chance of winning.”

...announced his assessment of the odds as though it were plainly obvious.

The man who’d already lost to multiple Superiors confidently claimed that he could defeat the one who was immortal.

“You go support him, Niala.”

“All right.” Eldridge didn’t need Niala’s assistance in the battle against Emily, and Niala herself knew that she would only get in the way, so all she did was nod.

“Don’t worry—I’ll win this time.”

“I believe you.”

“Anyway, Hugo, that’s the situation as it stands. Leave this to me and go.”

“Very well...may you emerge the victor, then.”

“That makes you sound like a knight or samurai or something, but I’ll take it.” Eldridge gave a faint smile. Behind him, he felt Hugo and Niala take their leave. Hugo didn’t look back. Niala looked back just once, and then they both moved toward the power block.

That was when Emily dug herself out of the rubble.

“Minus.” Her emotionless, lifeless eyes quickly recognized Eldridge as an enemy.

She was a fearsome killing machine in the form of a little girl. There weren’t even that many Superiors who could defeat her.

“Caldina’s strongest PK, Murder Princess Emily Killingston.”

Despite that, the man calling her name showed no fear. He only reconfirmed the steps he would take to achieve victory.

He already knew how she fought from that video of her battle in Cortana.

“I’m King of Burglary, Eldridge.”

He calmly gave her his name...

“The man who was once known as Altar’s strongest PK.”

...and his old title.

At one point, that was how Eldridge had been known. With the likes of Sechs and Kashimiya rising to claim that title, though, the number of people who knew that it had once belonged to Eldridge was decreasing.

But there was no lie in his words—he was certainly the first person to have ever held that title.

Emily’s eyes were fixed on him. It wasn’t clear if she was capable of analyzing her enemy’s abilities while in her killing mode. However, she was clearly wary of him and whatever he was going to do.

Eldridge also looked at her straight on.

And thus, the goblin bared his fangs against the murder-demon.